Spring comes, and we
by Denymoree
Summary: As time went by, they were no longer the children they used to be. Their relationship was vague to be named but the only thing that they were sure was that... they wanted to stay with each other. Edit 22 April 2020: Minor changes of all chapters are made. Please review if you like this story!
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Love leads to growth. That's why they have become much more mature... as time goes by.

Flames were spreading fiercely in an enormous iron tray. He somehow found it soothing while watching something burn. Maybe it's a thing in his blood, his nature. The fire eased the negative emotions that were constantly haunting him.

 _Indulging yourself in rage or jealousy whenever you feel makes you weak._

A certain someone told him a long time ago.

 _I'm not asking you to suppress them. What you need is to control. You want strength, don't you?_

 _Yes, I do._

 _Why don't you do it, then?_

 _I…tried, but I just can't..._

 _Because you're too small._

 _Her lips curled as she commented._

 _Don't call me small!_

He put the last pile of stale documents inside. It almost became ash instantly once it contacted the tip of the flame. He smiled with satisfaction. His fire had grown to be stronger.

It appeared that she was right.

And he wondered where she was as he made a small gesture with his finger. The fire went off in a blink.

The job which no one in the castle (except him) wanted to take was done. Fine, everyone was happy.

 _Control_ , he pondered, looking at his right palm and closed his hand.

 _I 'll be back someday, I promise._

Ignoring the voice echoing at the back of his mind, he slowly walked towards the backdoor of the castle.

* * *

There were lots of things that he regretted in his entire life, no, it should be in his life till now. Only eighteen years had passed after he was born. Making his signature an eight-word one instead of a four-word one is on the top three of his "regret list". He could have written a thousand characters fewer if he hadn't done such a thing just to make his signature longer and as a result looked more "powerful".

Sometimes he wondered how his mind worked when he was fifteen. He had to admit he had made loads of silly decisions in these three years but at the same time he had learnt from mistakes. Three years wasn't really a long period of time but for humans, or half humans, that's enough for an adolescent to turn into his early adulthood.

He had changed. Lots of people would give the same comment as they observed.

He no longer complained when he had to work with piles of paper or train his skills of swords. He even started making notes and asking questions during his lessons with the often dramatically crying or nose-bleeding teacher.

The number of winkles on Gwendal's forehead seemed to decrease. Gunter shed his tears and blew into his handkerchief (as usual). Conrad gave him an approving smile like he always did.

The change certainly pleased many people.

One third of the documents were records of trade or land selling. Sometimes there were suspicious contracts that required further inspections before they were approved by the king.

This is another strange contract. Why would a landlord use so much money to buy such a tiny piece of infertile land in that remote place?

With a slight sigh, he wrote "further inspection needed" and put it in a separate wooden box.

Moving his head a little, his neck bone gave a small cracking noise. He had lost track of time again. The sky outside was turning dark. He planned to continue his work for a bit longer before dinner but a soft cough caught his attention.

He looked up and found his three advisers standing in front of his desk, all of them wearing a stern look.

This was not a good sign but he was sure that he hadn't done anything wrong...

To be more prudent, he was eighty five percent sure about that.

"Hi everyone," he said, putting the parchment down on the desk and waited.

The three of them exchanged a look among themselves, sending signals to urge one another to speak first. Finally, Gwendal, who was standing in the middle, frowned and spoke with his low voice "It's been three years already."

Three years? Yes, he had been here on and off for three years already. Why did they bring this up out of the blue? It must be about anything else besides this.

He sat back and considered for a while. The answer was not difficult to guess.

"Are you talking about our engagement?"

The atmosphere lightened a bit. They were relieved as they did not have to bring up the topic themselves.

"Yes, your majesty," Gunter replied, with an appreciative expression on his face, of course.

If it was one or two years ago, he would just wave them off and ask them not to mention it again. But now, he wouldn't. He knew that he had to deal with this eventually. And the "eventually" appeared to be now.

"What about it?"

"Your majesty..."

"Call me Yuuri."

"Yuuri," Conrad started again "the expiration of your engagement with Wolfram is approaching."

Actually, he knew.

"If..."

"…there is no announcement of a wedding within three years of the engagement, it will be cancelled automatically. Am I right?" the young king stated quietly before his godfather had the chance to elaborate his point.

And he nodded.

"When is the exact date?" he asked.

"It would be next week."

"I see."

"So, what is your decision, your majesty?" the dark hair adviser asked, sounded slightly annoyed.

He wanted to be frank and say he didn't know. It didn't mean that he hadn't thought about the issue. He was thinking about it whenever he had time, when he was having a break from work, when he had the chance to space out during meals and…

When he was staring at the back of the person sleeping beside him in the dark.

What was Wolfram and him? Friends? Companions? Brothers? Fiancé? Lovers?

He wouldn't describe themselves as brothers, no. They were not exactly friends either. Try to compare Wolfram with Murata, his relationship with the former was nothing similar to the one with the latter. He wouldn't first think of Murata when he encountered problems that he couldn't deal with. He wouldn't want to share any secrets with Murata. He wouldn't smile just because he was thinking of Murata. Even the thought disgusted him.

Wolfram had been a very special person to him. He was the person who was closest to him both physically and mentally. The blond was always by his side and somehow always knew what he was thinking. The double black was so used to his company that he didn't even mind sharing the same bed with the Mazoku a long time ago (though he would still complain about being kicked out of his own bed occasionally). The blond had crossed the border that he wouldn't allow anyone to long before he realized it. It was natural for them to share any food or drinks, to argue and then made up afterwards, to hug each other when they were extremely happy, to miss each other when he went back to Earth or Wolfram left the castle for a mission...

Yuuri wouldn't lie and tell himself that they were only friends. He's dense but not stupid. Obviously the way they treated each other was too different from the normal standard of "friends".

But, were they lovers?

No, but the reason was not the "we are both guys" cliché anymore. Even if Wolfram were a girl, he would say the same thing.

Did he like Wolfram? Yes, he did.

Did he love Wolfram? He didn't know...

In the first place, what was love?

It took him too long to space out and consider his answer for Gwendal's question. His focus wasn't there until his lavender hair adviser addressed him with a worried voice.

"I think I'll talk to Wolfram first," he said calmly as he stood up. "I shouldn't be the only one who make the decision."

Then, he left the office.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Cool, gentle breeze was blowing in the early summer night. Letting the wind blow casually through his raven hair, he gazed at nothing in particular but he seemed to be looking at the jet-black sky.

Changes were inevitable in the current situation. He had considered both possible choices he had. Choice number one: Wait and do nothing. Then there would be no engagement between them anymore. Wolfram would then have to move out. Not only from his room, but also from the castle as he didn't have the position to stay here. It would be extremely awkward for the ex-fiancé of the king to stay in the castle. Personally, he found this point of view strange. How come the ex-fiancé had to be kicked out of the castle? Even when couples broke up, they would still see each other occasionally. Well, maybe this was again a kind of cultural difference or some so-called royal affair matters... whatever.

But the thought of Wolfram leaving him is unbearable. He couldn't stand the idea of not being able to see the blond when he wanted to. He was just too used to having the young Mazoku by his side. His leaving was like asking him to use his left hand to do everything in spite of the fact that he wasn't a lefty.

It was just intolerable! No, choice one was discarded for sure.

Choice number two: marry him. This was a tricky choice for him. He was tempted to pick this choice as he didn't think much would be changed after they got married. But then, it would be insensitive of him if the reason for getting married was just his selfish desire of not wanting to have anything to change.

People got married because they loved each other, right? And it's unfair for Wolfram. He could have found another person who truly loved him and...

desired him

That's a weird thing to think of. He once asked himself if he desired the blond. The answer, well, was complicated. He considered Wolfram a really, (he didn't know the adjective that was suitable for describing him) clean? pure? innocent? person. He looked like an angel (but he wasn't). It would be a sin to even think of staining him, as if he was some kind of goddess (he would be burnt to death if he dared tell others about this).

Maybe he shouldn't think about this topic any more. He decided that's not necessarily an important issue. Desire wasn't always related to love, was it? A mind-numbing headache was coming through. He rubbed his hair in frustration but still couldn't come up with anything useful.

Maybe he should just flip a coin and let fate decide…

He leaned forward, hands resting on the rail of the balcony.

A soft click caught his attention. He turned and found the person whom he had been thinking of these days. Dressing in his usual sky blue uniform, the young soldier scanned around the room and stopped when he saw Yuuri.

"You skipped dinner," he said, walking through the large window between the room and the balcony "That's quite rare."

Compared with Yuuri, Wolfram looked exactly the same as he was three years ago. Time didn't leave any trace, neither on his face nor his build. Yuuri caught him lifting his chin a little when talking to him because of the slight height difference. Though it was just a few inches, the double black still inwardly cheered for himself that he was finally taller than Wolfram (ignoring the fact that he lost in arm wrestling with him last week).

"Why are you smiling like this?"

"No, I'm not smiling," trying to fight back the urge to grin, he straightened his stance a little.

Maybe this could make Wolfram lift his glance more. He liked that look.

"What happened to your hair? It looks like weeds."

"Oh, that... You know, it's quite windy out here," he lied, "Look, so windy..." As if emphasizing his point, he waved his hand in the air.

"Quit it. That's silly," the blonde frowned, lifting his hand to tidy up Yuuri's messy hair.

Staring directly at the emerald eyes in front of him, feeling the light touch upon his hair, his thoughts started wandering again.

Wolfram looked the same but he was in fact different then, after all the things that they had been through.

He still kept his pride and passion. Sometimes unwilling to compromise, even when the whole world was against him. He would never hesitate to voice out his opinions whenever he found something unacceptable. Always stayed honest and determined. Yes, he was like his element, bright and strong. The difference, however, was the way he kept these characters in control. It's hard to associate words such as 'calm', 'rational' or 'gentle' with the Mazoku in the past. But there were moments, such as now, Yuuri would be amazed by how tender he could actually be. Stubborn as he was, the signs of care and love were not easy to notice. Jealousy would still be shown from time to time. Chasing and shouting were no longer the means of showing it. Instead, he would just glare, walk away and ignore the king for the rest of the day.

And the table was turned. Yuuri would spend hours (if he was free from duties) following Wolfram, trying to trick him into replying to his random utterances and talk to him again. To his surprise, doing that was kind of fun. It's like a battle of ignoring verses talking. Thanks to the non-stop talking ability inherited from his mother, he won every time.

He recalled the annoyed look Wolfram gave him while telling him to shut up and he remembered himself couldn't help but laugh after seeing how he pouted for failing to ignore him completely.

He could live like that without getting bored for the rest of his life.

"Here, you look much decent now."

Maybe…

"Hey, don't you dare space out in front of me," Wolfram grumbled as he was withdrawing his hand but it was gripped before he wanted to say the word 'wimp'.

"Er… Wolf?" Yuuri swallowed hard, not sure about what to say.

"What?" the voice sounded irritated but the hand stayed.

"Do you know about..." unconsciously, he squeezed his hand a little "the deadline?"

"Deadline?" he parroted "of what?"

"Of us..." he paused "you know... us"

"Oh... I just wondered what you're going to say," Wolfram seemed to be relieved "Yes, I know. No more engagement after next Friday."

To be frank, the king didn't see that coming. He expected to see stronger reactions, definitely not this.

"So, what about that?"

Pursing his lips a bit, the taller man commented, "You're quite cool about it, aren't you?"

He felt like a fool. It was like he was the only person who cared, and spent time worrying and panicking on his own.

"Of course, I knew it from the beginning. How should I react then?" he asked, with a slight smirk "Cry? or threaten to burn you alive if you don't marry me?"

"…" this time, Yuuri was the one who frowned. He was surely not pleased about the blonde's attitude.

"What's with that face?" he shrugged, averting the stare that was directed at him. "I thought you would be happy about it."

"Not if that means you have to leave..." or it hurts you, he added inwardly.

"Well," Wolfram moved his gaze to the dark sky, the sound of thunder from the far was hard to miss "You can come and visit me," he suggested quietly.

"No, I won't accept that," the king stated firmly, feeling his pulse racing "You did it last time. I won't let it happen twice."

How could he say this so easily? To leave, not staying by his side…

Maybe his heart was beating too fast; it started to ache. Still holding the calloused hand of Wolfram, he pressed both of their hands onto his heart, trying to ease the pain.

Surprised by the unusually quick heartbeat of the king, Wolfram turned and looked at him, eyes widened.

"Stay," raindrops started falling as he ordered, with a stubborn expression on his face. Wolfram knew very well that once he had made a decision, no one could change his mind.

Not even Wolfram himself.

The sound of rain filled the silence for a while. Wolfram sighed and chided, "Stop being childish. What then? Are you going to marry me?" he retorted weakly, looking away.

"Yes, I'll marry you," he replied almost immediately, forgetting about the things that he was worrying about a few minutes ago.

He would do anything just to keep Wolfram by his side.

"No," Wolfram disagreed darkly when he glared at the king, feeling the anger slowly boiling inside him. He took a deep breath before he uttered again. "This is totally ridiculous. You know, if you said this to me one or two years ago, I would definitely strangle you to death."

Yuuri bit his lip. He understood that he had hurt Wolfram's pride, again.

But he was just desperate to prevent him from leaving. He couldn't think straight every time he was dealing with issues concerning Wolfram.

Taking his hand back to himself, Wolfram crossed his arms "Stop the rain, then we can talk."

The rain was getting heavier. This in fact reflected the mood of the king.

When he was angry, there would be thunderstorms. When he was sad, it would rain.

He glanced at the sky for a few seconds and the rain stopped. When he noticed the damp blond in front of him, he muttered an apology. With a slight touch on the fringe, the water on their body was gone completely.

His control of his magic had improved _a lot_ in these years.

"You're not only wimpy, but also super selfish," exhaling deeply, Wolfram lifted his chin and started.

"Eh?"

"You don't love me but you want to keep me here with you." his voice was surprisingly calm, as if he was just stating an obvious fact that wasn't his own business. He was used to Yuuri sending him signals implying he might like him more than friends but they would never become anything more than friends.

But Wolfram still didn't have the heart to leave him. This is how much he loved Yuuri.

The raven-haired king wanted to argue. Why was he so sure about it? How could he tell if there's love or not? He wracked his brain these days to think about this issue but he was still not sure about his own feelings.

"Okay then," Wolfram said, with his usual smug expression, "I can stay here and we don't need to get married."

"But how?"

"Simple. You're the king. Just give me another title so that I'm allowed to stay without being bothered."

"But then other people..." would start gossiping again.

"Whatever, I don't care," he said lazily, waving off whatever that was brought up. "I have to stay here because you're extremely useless and you cannot live without me, right?"

Yuuri stared at him for a while, dumbfounded and chuckled at last.

"Yes, you're most certainly correct."

"I hope stupidity isn't contagious," the young soldier rolled his eyes. "Which idiot in this world will laugh after being insulted?"

The double black laughed harder and raised his hand "Me."

"Ha, ha, very funny."

Refraining himself from laughing further, Yuuri asked "Wolf, what do you want to be?"

"What?"

"What title do you want?"

The blonde thought for a while, suddenly caught the glimpse of the long-forgotten storybook in the corner of the balcony. He used to read it to Greta three years ago. She was now too old for fairy tales.

Though it sounded a bit cheesy, maybe that's not a bad idea.

"Knight."

"Er... what?"

Looking up, he said again, very clearly.

"I'll be your knight."


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

 _Knight_

Come to think of it. It suits the blonde well. Constantly protecting and being ready to sacrifice for the sake of the kingdom, for _him_. An honorary title such as that should undoubtedly be given to Wolfram.

Spinning the pen between his fingers, Yuuri stared absent-mindedly at the board which Gunter was pointing at. It was the time for the morning history lesson. The man with long lavender hair was talking enthusiastically without breathing much, explaining eagerly how the kingdom's land had expanded because of the efforts of the mighty kings in the past. In spite of the lack of interest, the dark hair king still took some time to write down whatever might be useful in his notebook. He brought some of the stationery from Earth last time he returned. Though he now could use the quill quite properly, he found using an erasable pen much more convenient.

 _Even pens are erasable nowadays on Earth._ He exclaimed inwardly. When he showed it to the people in Shin Makoku, they thought it was some sort of magic.

When he was drawing the map, he heard his teacher squeak and started praising him again, probably on how artistic he was and how elegant he had drawn the lands of the country (they were in fact just some circles with crooked lines). He wished Gunter would praise him less often. Nearly one-third of the time was spent on Gunter expressing his appreciation towards whatever Yuuri had done.

And at this moment he could just stop listening for sure. He glanced through the window and saw Conrad and Wolfram standing side by side in the yard, taking their swords with them. They seemed to be discussing the stance or whatever about swordsmanship. The smaller figure was saying something and posed. Then, the brunette would either nod in approval or adjust his posture a bit.

The double black beamed at the sight. The relationship between the two brothers had become quite close recently. Seeing them chatting wasn't an unusual scene anymore. Because of the desire to be stronger and the slowly disappearing prejudice, Wolfram appeared to be more willing to spend more time with his second elder brother.

That's one of the things that Yuuri liked most about his changes. He wasn't the little brat who just stuck his nose up in the mid-air anymore. He used to yell and throw tantrums (or fireballs) whenever he felt like it, ignoring others' comments even when he was the one at fault. The double black had suffered a lot because of his temper. But now, he was amused at the thought of himself escaping from the deadly flames. They'd known each other for three years already. He thought he could never stand the blonde at all, let alone admire or even grow to like him.

Sometimes he wondered when the change of his feelings towards Wolfram had taken place. When he realized it, he had already become very fond of the quick-tempered ex-prince.

To an extent that it made him uncomfortable whenever Wolfram wasn't around.

The brothers were now fighting with their swords. Even from the distance, the sharp crushing sounds of the weapons could still be heard. Wolfram was quite aggressive in his attacks, waving the sword forcefully at his opponent with his full strength. Relatively, his brother seemed to be more discreet, defending himself with his usual calm moves.

The king looked at his teacher from the corner of his eyes. The lavender hair man was blowing loudly into his handkerchief but went back on the track on whatever his was trying to explain about the history.

With a soft sigh, Yuuri drew his attention back again on the lecture.

 _Do your best, Wolf._

He cheered inwardly for his soon-to-be-expired fiancé before he picked up his pen again.

* * *

"Conrad, you must keep helping me on this until the day I beat you up," the younger brother demanded while putting back the sword into the sheath.

The brunette laughed, unlike the 'smile number one' he usually wore on his face, he looked and was truly happy when he was with his little brother "No matter how nice I am, I don't think I should teach someone to defeat myself. Would you give me a reason for doing it?"

Wolfram gave a soft 'humph' at the question "That's because I am the one who is asking."

The taller male laughed even louder. "Because you're my adorable little brother?"

He earned a dreadful glare in return. Conrad just liked to tease his younger brother sometimes now that their relationship became more like in the old days. "No, because you owed me that," Wolfram muttered.

Conrad stopped laughing and looked at him, who was staring at the ground before he added "for not telling me earlier that you're not a full Mazoku and thus causes me to be a silly child and hated you for years."

The older soldier was caught off-guard at the comment for a moment. His face was then lightened up by a warm smile. He was glad that 'little brother' had grown up. The reason for this was not because of time. Three years for Mazoku was just a blink of an eye. Obviously, the blonde had grown to think more maturely because of the king. Seeing the double black growing up day by day made him anxious, fearing that he wouldn't be able to catch up with him as the Mazoku didn't change at all physically. Also, his indomitable nature made him refuse to lose, even if the opponent was the ruler of the kingdom.

"You're right, Wolfram," Conrad said, ruffling his blonde hair "I would make you the best swordsman in this kingdom, even better than me."

The shorter male frowned and looked up "Don't treat me like a child!"

To Conrad's delight, despite the irritated look on Wolfram's face, he didn't snap away his hand.

* * *

It's evening again. He wondered where the time had gone. Scanning through the final piece of document on the revenue of a particular land, the young king was once again amazed about the amount of knowledge required to be a ruler of a country. As the decision maker, one had to acquire any kind of knowledge on any area... politics, finance, economics, geography… He wondered what major he should take in university. The slightly troubled young man signed on the parchment and put it on the top of the pile on his right.

That's the last piece of work today. Stretching his limbs with a yawn, Yuuri rested his head on the large wooden office desk. It smelled like some ancient antique.

Lots of furniture here was made of wood. In this room, for instance, the table, the chair, the bookshelf… even the clock was a wooden one.

Speaking of the clock, he tilted his head a bit, looking up at the huge wooden time-telling device.

 _It was here since I arrived in this world._

To be more exact, he himself brought it into this world. There weren't any clocks in this world at all and electricity just didn't exist here. So he brought this old wooden device, which he found at home somewhere collecting dust, to his office here. It was working pretty well, considering that the last time he wound it up was a few months ago. The fact that it worked without any other energy source fascinated him. He walked slowly near it, stared up at the glass surface. As if communicating with the king, the sound of the bell inside rang for a few times, telling him that it was officially early nighttime.

It was like an old friend, keeping him company during his working hours.

Though it was a strange thing to say, Yuuri appreciated its existence.

It reminded him of the old Japanese children's song.

"Thanks, grandfather's clock," he looked up and beamed.

He then laughed at his own childishness, speaking to a clock.

 _Hey, who cares? There's no one around._

He thought to himself as he was strolling out of the room, overlooking the light pink figure reflected on the surface of the glass of the clock.

 _So, this is the present Maou and your fiancé, or soon-to-be ex-fiancé._

The girl smirked, looking forward to the meeting with her dear student again.

* * *

By the time the double black entered his bedroom after taking a bath, he was still softly humming the nursery rhyme.

He stopped at the sight of the young soldier sitting on the edge of his bed.

"Oh…" he chuckled sheepishly, scratching his hair. "I thought you're not back yet."

The other male 'humph' through his nose and said. "That's why I told you to end the stupid engagement sooner," he straightened his own white shirt a bit before he shifted to sit on his side on the bed. "Then you won't find me in your room for sure."

"I didn't mean I don't want to see you in the bedroom," Yuuri protested, dropping the blue towel on the chair near the bed. Looking at the blonde, he then noticed something different. "You're not wearing the pink dress anymore."

Emerald eyes settled on him, Wolfram raised an eyebrow and asked, "What? Are you disappointed?"

The king blushed before clarifying, "No, how could I be?" He didn't like to appear as shy in front of anyone, especially Wolfram. "I was just about to say 'Excellent! You look really nice in your new sleeping outfit' …see?"

He received a snort as a response. "By the way, that's not a dress. But I think I'm not young enough to wear it anymore," Wolfram stated while playing with his golden locks, swirling them with his index finger. "It's for children."

Yuuri wanted to point out that he technically couldn't see any changes of his appearance. If he was a child three years ago, he still looked like a child.

And the double black was wise enough to keep this thought to himself and he managed to just curl his upper lip a little.

"Why? You're wearing that creepy smile again," Wolfram crossed his arms. "Are you up to something?"

Seeing the suspicious glance, the king quickly raised his hands and made a peaceful gesture. He blurted out whatever that was on his brain at that moment. "Well no! I'm just happy to see you here on my bed."

And he bit his tongue after saying that, cursing himself inwardly.

What the hell did he say?

The blonde blushed but still having a disapproved expression on his flawless face.

 _He still looks extremely beautiful even when he is angry._

Yuuri hit himself mentally for having the thought at this moment. He should say something to ease this embarrassing atmosphere. Yeah…say something…

"You know, I really like sleeping with you every night."

Silence

Silence

Shhhhhhhhit!

He smacked himself on the forehead for saying that.

 _Well, I knew I'm not a good speaker. I just KNEW it!_

"I meant to have you sleep by my side…" he covered his face and murmured, deeply frustrated. He guessed he ought to shut up immediately lest anything stupid escaped from his mouth.

Where the hell was the reliable and mature king who was praised by almost everyone in this castle?

Why was he always so clumsy in front of Wolfram, the person whom he wanted to get the praise from most?

He didn't know why. He was happy whenever anyone praised him (maybe not Gunter) but he found himself to be extra happy when the blonde showed any sign of appreciation towards him. Even a little nod could make him smile all day.

Saying something silly to him was the least thing that Yuuri wanted to do.

He expected to be beaten, strangled, or worse, _burnt_ now.

But none of those was coming.

Yuuri plucked up the courage to peek through his hands and saw Wolfram smile.

 _He smiled._

He couldn't help but gasped and he felt his heart skip a beat.

 _What's wrong with me?_

Then he heard the Mazoku said. "You're hopeless, your majesty." he lay down on his side, with his back facing the other person. "Don't talk to me anymore."

Whenever he was mocking the king, he would call him 'your majesty'.

Sometimes this just annoyed him to no end.

The light went off at the small wave of the fire wielder's hand.

The raven hair king also lay down and looked at the ceiling, wondering if he should keep his usual strategy and speak to the stubborn blonde until he got any response again.

Just when he wanted to open his mouth to say something like 'It's quite cool tonight', he heard Wolfram ask, "What's that song you sang earlier?"

Yuuri turned his head and only saw the back of the blonde head, like he sometimes did when he woke up in the middle of the night.

"What?" he smiled to himself, trying to get the other to talk once again.

"You were singing before you came in."

Though the king really wanted to say ' _you told me not to talk to you anymore'_ , again, he was wise enough to keep this statement in his head only. Plus...

It's his luck for not having to say nonsense for hours again.

"Ah, that's Grandfather's Clock," he moved a bit near to his bedmate, inhaling the pleasant flower-like scent of the shampoo from the golden locks. "Do you know that song?"

No response

Hmm... maybe he was still the one doing most of the talking, fair enough.

"It's a well-known children's song in Japan," he continued in a soft voice. "Nearly all Japanese children know how to sing it."

Still no response.

The ramble went on. "It was even more popular when Hirai Ken included that song in his album a few years ago. Ah... I guess you don't know who Hirai Ken is. You probably just know Murata Ken. Hahahahahaa..."

He laughed at his own joke for a while and he thought he knew how Conrad felt sometimes.

The temperature in the room just dropped a few degrees.

"Hmm... not really funny... he's a singer in Japan... you know, somebody who sings for a living and... an album is a thing... that people put songs in it and others can listen to them again later."

Yuuri got used to explaining terms for the Mazoku even without him asking. That's a good thing since he could consider himself more knowledgeable than Wolfram in this occasion.

No response for the third time, hmm, great.

Running out of things to say, he decided to sing the song.

 _My grandfather's clock was too large for the shelf,_  
 _So it stood ninety years on the floor;_

A nerve soothing voice filled the room, Wolfram turned around and found a pair of gentle obsidian eyes staring right into his own.

Actually, he had a wonderful voice. His music teacher once tried to talk him into joining the school choir. Obviously, she was turned down as he insisted on joining the baseball team.

Emerald eyes were still gazing at him as if waiting for the melody to go on.

He didn't care about how his voice sounded until now.

 _Maybe it's useful to have a good voice after all._

It was just a miracle that he still remembered the lyrics after so many years. The last time he sang the song was when he studied in primary school during an inter-class singing competition. The whole class was kind of 'forced' to join it and sing together on stage back then.

Come to think of it now. It was a kind of childhood memory.

 _It was taller by half than the old man himself,_  
 _Though it weighed not a pennyweight more._  
 _It was bought on the morn of the day that he was born,_  
 _And was always his treasure and pride;_  
 _But it stopp'd short — never to go again —_  
 _When the old man died._

 _Ninety years without slumbering_  
 _(tick, tock, tick, tock),_  
 _His life seconds numbering,_  
 _(tick, tock, tick, tock),_  
 _It stopp'd short — never to go again —_  
 _When the old man died._

"That's a sad song," the blonde whispered after he stopped singing.

"Yeah…it is," he put his hand under his head, getting a better look at his companion. "Almost all of us in the class cried when we first heard the song."

"You always cry," a snicker followed the comment.

"No, I don't! I was only eight when I heard the song."

"So…that's the whole song?"

"Err… actually there're a few more verses… wanna hear them?"

The ex-prince followed his posture and nodded. Now, they were only a few inches away from each other.

Feeling the warm breath on his face, the king smiled and continued singing. His voice became softer and softer as Wolfram's breath gradually went steady and even. Unconsciously, Yuuri snuggled up closer and watched him sleep for a while before he closed his eyes to fall asleep too.

Yuuri knew that he was going to miss this after their engagement ended.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Nothing crossed his mind as he stared blankly outside the window.

Thick clouds were floating on the dim sky. It looked as if there would be a downpour in any minute.

It was today.

The accolade was set on the same date as their engagement expired. It was the king's decision for the arrangement.

The second Friday of May, that's today.

He didn't know why, but he had wanted to put the date as late as possible. Perhaps he was buying himself time, for considering, for reassuring himself that he hadn't made a wrong choice.

Gunter and Conrad were busy confirming the rundown of the ceremony and telling him when he needed to do or say something. Yuuri appreciated their efforts. If they were not always there for him, he would have lots of trouble finding out the right thing to do. However, he apologized inwardly, he wasn't paying his full attention as something seemed to be occupying his mind.

'Something' was a feeling ... or a thought.

When his mind finally came back to the present time, he realized that he was already dressed in his formal clothes that he usually wore for solemn events.

Though it still looked eight-five percent like his high school uniform.

Gunter suddenly let out a squeak and in the next second, he scurried out of the room with his hands cupped on the mouth.

Puzzled, the double black turned and gave Conrad a perplexed look.

"He went to the treasure room to get morgif," he said, with a knowing smile.

"Ah, I hope it won't make too many strange sounds today," Yuuri commented in an indifferent tone, returned to his previous posture and stared through the window.

Conrad observed the melancholy young man for a while and uttered, "Something is bothering you."

The king wasn't surprised that his godfather noticed it but he wasn't trying to hide it either. Letting out a sigh, he replied, "Yes, you're right." He had wanted to talk about it with Conrad but he found himself having difficulties how he could put his thoughts into words. And it was kind of embarrassing since the matter involved his very much adored little brother.

"About today?"

He nodded initially but shook his head after he had thought better. "Not exactly just about today."

"So, it's about your relationship," he paused as his godson finally looked up at him. "with Wolfram."

There was a brief silence before Yuuri came up with another reply. "I wish I were like you, Conrad." He was always so determined and collected. There seemed not to be a moment when he would ever doubt anything he did. Conrad was the role model which he would always look up to. He hoped he had grown just a little bit like him.

Conrad just kept the smile on his face, waiting for Yuuri to elaborate on his previous comment.

"You won't even frown if the sky is falling on you."

"Well, I think I will run instead of frown if that happens."

And for that he got a thumb-down from the king, "Good try but still a bad joke. Two points out of ten."

"Okay, how about you talk about your problems instead of me telling jokes?"

The young king's lips turned into a thin line at the suggestion. Then, there was another lengthened moment of silence.

"I… don't really know," his dark eyes were downcast. "It's like I'm going to lose something very important but I can't do anything about it."

"You mean you're afraid that Wolfram will leave you?"

"No, he promised me he will stay but…" he struggled to search for words to express himself. "… but I feel like our bond will break at the moment our engagement ends."

"Yuuri," the brunette tried to reassure him and at the same time defended his little brother "you know Wolfram is always loyal and honest to you. He won't care any less about you under any circumstances."

"I know, of course I know it!" he squeezed between his eyebrows in frustration. The answer he was looking for just wouldn't come to his mind. "But that's not what I want..."

Conrad watched as his godson was struggling mentally, groaning and scribbling meaningless circles on a piece of parchment, which was a habit the king had developed lately when he was trying to deal with something he considered an ordeal.

Many things went through his mind while each of the lines appeared. Most of them are about the way Wolfram smiled at him, or how he sometimes gave him sideway glances when he thought Yuuri didn't notice, or gentle looks on his face when he was playing with Greta or kids in the town.

Yuuri was surprised that he could remember Wolfram's each expression at a different time. And he recalled the strange feeling in his heart every time their eyes met.

When he almost filled the whole piece of paper with twisting lines, he looked up and uttered. "Conrad, maybe I have fallen for Wolfram."

Conrad was surprised by the confession. Though he used the word 'maybe', Yuuri's look was solemn and certain. He stared straight at the taller male's eyes, obsidian orbs glittering with determination.

He realized that his godson, his king had already grown, to a man who wouldn't evade the truth by giving continuous denials or neglecting the issue.

This was a good sign, for both the kingdom and the king himself. He couldn't help but smile warmly because of this, feeling proud of his godson.

Seeing Conrad's expression, Yuuri frowned and protested, "Hey, I've a problem here. Why do you look so glad?"

"Ah, sorry," but he didn't sound sorry at all. "I'm quite surprised that you've finally come to terms with it." and even willing to admit it, he added inwardly. Conrad had noticed that the relationship between his king and his little brother had transformed from the original one-sided one to now the reciprocal one long ago. The smiles and the glances they exchanged occasionally were hard to miss.

"I have accepted that I like him for a long time. I've never had feelings like this before and I'm not sure what exactly they are," he crumpled the piece of paper which was full of ink. "but it doesn't seem to matter anymore. It ends before it can even start."

"Of course it matters!" rarely, Conrad exclaimed in a louder voice. He truly wanted his godson and his little brother to be happy. It would be a pity if they misunderstood each other's feelings and decided to stay being friends. They just needed a step closer."You must tell Wolfram this before the end of today, no, before the ceremony."

"What should I say?" Yuuri grumbled with annoyance."Tell him 'Maybe I love you but sorry I'm not sure so we can't get marry' and 'please wait for me though you've already waited for three years?'"

He threw the paper ball at the bin in the corner of the room but narrowly missed the aim. "See? This isn't going to work."

"Well, that's better than saying nothing," he replied seriously, touching his chin, deep in thoughts.

"Conrad!"

"Okay, okay…"he raised his hands as a gesture of telling him to calm down. The warm smile on his face made others difficult to be mad at."Why don't you just try to at least tell him your concern first and see what happens?"

The young king looked at him without any intention to reply. Conrad sighed inwardly. When it came to love, his godson was still too inexperienced. "You'd surely regret afterwards if you don't act now."

Actually, Yuuri knew it. He just needed some kind of trigger, or an excuse so that he could do something. Though he was quite sure that he would be dumped, he still wanted to give it a try.

"Thanks, Conrad, I almost act wimpy again," he grinned, picked up the paper ball on the floor and put it into the bin before he walked out of the door. "See you later."

* * *

 _Must be bothering about something silly again, stupid Yuuri._

Wolfram thought, staring at the sky covered with numerous thick, dark clouds. The clear sounds of his boots stepping on the marble floor were so distinct that they were echoing. He walked through the corridor and then out to the garden, heading to the backyard.

He just needed to get away from his mother and the tailors for a while. He was too fed up with others' compliments on how nice he looked in his knight uniform.

Strangely, he was feeling extremely relieved, like a burden on his shoulder was finally removed, when today had finally come. He thought it would be harder, to let go, to break this relationship which always tied them together. He was quite grateful that the law did it for him.

The white uniform suited him just as well as his old sky blue uniform. Nothing much would change. His men in his team would still follow him and carry out various tasks with him. He wondered how they would react when they first saw him wearing this white uniform. Personally, he was quite fond of it as it symbolized a brand new start of his life.

 _Yes, a new beginning._

Wolfram couldn't help but feel a sense of excitement growing in his heart. He would be able to contribute to the kingdom, to serve the people and assist the king to rule better without any distractions. To achieve this, he had to be stronger, gain more strength and more control of himself. He did well so far and he was proud of himself.

After the ceremony, he didn't need to be constrained by the rope named 'engagement' anymore. They would be free, free from each other.

After his eighty-five years old birthday this spring, he decided that he would focus on things other than his king. Wolfram wasn't a person who would be miserable and cry all day long like a lovesick girl because of a romantic relationship. Actually, he wasn't even interested in having one until the double black bumped into his life.

It hurt a lot at the beginning, but three years was long enough, he decided, if it didn't work, let go. He would be Yuuri's friend and always be there for him.

He learnt about different forms of love from the people whom he met in those crazy adventures he had when he followed the king. He regarded himself lucky enough to find someone he loved so much. It wasn't necessary to own someone he loved.

He would protect Yuuri with his life. Maybe someday when he had a queen, he would protect her for him too.

The image of a girl with long silky hair, a soft body and sweet smile came to his mind. She would lean onto the king's shoulder and giggle with a voice like silver bells and he would give her the boyish smile while putting his arms around her slim waist. They were so much in love and they would receive everyone's blessing, including Wolfram's with a blissful expression.

The thought still sent a sharp pain to his heart and he could feel his eyes become moist. Taking a deep breath and shaking his head, he guessed it took time to get used to it.

"Wolfram!"

He turned, and found the king who was fully dressed in the ceremonial clothes running towards him from the corridor. The red cape was dragged behind him. He looked as if he had just escaped from his own wedding.

The blonde watched in amusement as he stopped in front of him, the cape almost fell off his shoulder.

"I think you are supposed to be preparing your speech instead of jogging."

"I've finished that already and I really need to tell you something."

The clouds in the sky seemed to scatter a little and a beam of sunlight was shining through them.

"Okay, what?" a bit annoyed, Wolfram put his hand on his hip.

The raven hair king stared at him for a while and said, "You look really cool in your new uniform. White suits you well."

The young soldier rolled his eyes. "That's what you're going to say? Stop wasting my time, your majesty."

"Ah, of course not," Yuuri straightened himself a bit and put on a serious expression again. "Our engagement ends today, but it doesn't mean that our relationship ends with it."

Wolfram shot him a bored look, waving his right hand slightly, "Sure, our friendship will last forever."

 _What a cliché_ he mocked himself inwardly.

"No, that's not what I meant," Yuuri said, grabbed his hand just like he did last week. He inhaled deeply and steadied himself before he continued, "I mean... although I'm not your fiancé anymore, it doesn't mean that I don't love you."

Wolfram gazed at him and frowned, he knew that he wasn't going to like whatever Yuuri was trying to convey.

The king wasn't taken aback by his reaction. He looked directly into his emerald eyes and went on, "I don't think I deserve your love because I'm still not good enough. I would be too cunning if I use the engagement to tie you up and get your affection and care."

Wolfram looked at his own reflections on the king's obsidian eyes. For a moment, he felt as if his heart had stopped beating.

The sense of hope in the bottom of his heart scared him.

"From now on, I'm going to prove that I deserve your love and earn it with my own hands," he announced and curved his lips, satisfied with the dumbfounded expression on Wolfram's face.

 _Yuuri is just confused… Yeah… that must be it..._

"No, no…" the blonde finally managed to respond, shaking his head frantically. "I won't accept this. You know, you're just too afraid that you'll lose your best friend and you're too confused so you start uttering nonsense."

Wolfram's heartbeat slowly went back to the normal pace and he was calm once again.

He withdrew his hand from the grip, pulled the cape back onto the right position and patted the king on his shoulder. "Don't worry, Yuuri, I'll always be there for you. You don't have to force yourself to love me. No one should be blamed when it comes to love. I understand that because I've rejected people before."

Yuuri's eyes widened, realizing how much it actually hurt when Wolfram really started acting like a dear friend rather than a fiancé.

His heart was aching again. He knew he deserved it since he hurt Wolfram too much before.

 _Wolf treats me as a friend now. He may even urge me to find a girlfriend and cheer for me one day._

He felt like crying when he thought of that.

 _Serve you right, Shibuya Yuuri._

He mocked himself in his head. Closing his eyes for a while, he made up his mind when he opened his eyes once again. Seeing the worried face of Wolfram, he forced himself to plaster a smile on his face.

"Let's go then," Yuuri grabbed the calloused but slightly tender hand of Wolfram. "the ceremony will start soon."

"Er... wait…"

"I'm still technically your fiancé now," the king said without turning. There was an edge of stubborness in his voice. "So I still have the right to hold your hand."

This time, the blonde didn't say anything and let himself be dragged away.

Yuuri tried to engrave this feeling in his heart so that he could share what Wolf had undergone before.

As expected, he was dumped.

But he wasn't going to give up just because of that.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Once Wolfram started his training, he could forget about anything. The rush of blood through his veins just made him feel alive and he was almost addicted to the feeling.

With a few swift moves, several dummies fell, either being burnt to ash or sliced into multiple pieces before they hit the ground. Some of them managed to make some nasty moaning sounds or a horrified look of pain when they were vanishing in thin air.

It was the idea of Anissina, who happened to have the hobby of torturing or _tormenting_ people, to invent these maryoku or sword practising "machines". She called them something like scream-before-they-die-and-your-skills-are-improved-kun.

 _But well, whatever, I don't care as long as I have something to burn or slash._

That was what popped up in Wolfram's mind as he destroyed a couple of hideous, zombie-like moving robots, using the new sword he had just been conferred, along with the title of the royal knight, from the accolade. It was made of steel; the hilt was slightly round and the pommel appeared as a malachite.

He examined it after the last screaming dummy was mute by his furious flame. On the guard of the weapon, there was an exquisite piece of emerald jewel planted. He wondered if Yuuri was the one who had chosen the sword for him. That's quite possible since the king paid him compliments about the colour of his eyes from time to time.

 _Wolf, your eyes are like... the bottom of a tranquil lake._

The blonde stroked the jewel. He then heard the king's voice again in his head.

 _Huh? Nothing, I was just looking at your eyes. They're so beautiful._

And he remembered himself blushing while returning the compliment, saying "your eyes are beautiful too". A face with a bright, easy-going smile appeared in his mind. That was the smile that once stole his heart, the boyish, sunshine-like smile he loved the most.

Wolfram closed his eyes and beamed. He decided to protect that smile with all of his own life.

A sudden sense of danger caught his attention; he turned and found four or five dummies moving swiftly towards him. Frowning, he was sure that he finished them all a moment ago. He dodged and shifted quickly away from the attacks, cleaving the strange things with some other few elegant moves. The sharp claws of one of the robots almost cut his right cheek if he didn't step away fast enough from it.

 _These things aren't supposed to move_ _ **this**_ _fast!_

He thought. Then a half sliced robot's arm suddenly flew towards him. He turned in time and burnt the part into ash. It emitted a shrill cry before it disappeared. The blonde sweat-dropped once again at the disgusting taste of the mad female scientist.

"Wow... how strong have you grown, my dearest Wolfram," a melodious, girlish voice said from the above.

The young soldier lifted his chin and saw a vague figure sitting on the nearest tree. He squinted, trying to figure out who it was. The voice sounded familiar. It was like the voice of a certain someone whom he sometimes could hear at the back of his mind when he wanted to get more strength.

"I promised you that I would be back one day, didn't I? " the sweet, singsong voice said.

With a brisk leap, she landed on the spot a few feet away from the blonde. Slowly, she strolled out of the shadow, revealing her face. It was a teenage girl with a pink, long twintail. Her ruby-like eyes were shining in the dark; there was a mysterious wave of light rippling through the orbs. This somehow made people tempted to stare at them. A playful curve clung on her lips.

Wolfram's eyes widened, he didn't expect to see her after so many years. He thought she had just disappeared or decided to start another life.

"Moni…" he muttered, putting his sword back to the sheath. "Why in the world are you here?""

"What? That's the only thing I get from you?" the girl named Moni asked in a dramatic way. "Do you know how long I've travelled just to come back and see you?"

Wolfram twisted his lips, annoyed. Moni walked a few steps ahead but he stepped back to keep the distance.

"Hey, why? Wolfram, are you mad at me?" she tilted her head, causing the pink braids to fall onto one side. "I came back for you as I promised. I don't see why you're so irritated."

Wolfram looked up and glared at her. "Of course I'm _irritated_! If you can kindly recall, you, have _abandoned_ me for nearly fifty years!" For a moment, his emerald eyes were overwhelmed with a wave of light. Noticing this, a crooked smile appeared on Moni's face.

"Ah, it seems I've come back at the right time." she uttered quietly. "Wolfram, I couldn't teach you anything even if I stayed. Your Maryoku wasn't mature enough at the time that I left."

"That's just an excuse!" he yelled furiously, hands balled into fists. He hadn't felt this angry since a long time ago. "My Maryoku has been at a very high level when I reached forty. Anissina's crazy machine had proven it."

She shook her head while sighing, "That's _maturity_ that I'm talking about, not quantity, density or whatever." to be more persuasive, she added. "Have you noticed that your fire has become much stronger after you've reached eighty-five?"

That's true. He still wanted to argue but he bit his lower lip instead. Moni's expression softened at the gesture. In her memory, Wolfram was always a stubborn child who kept trying to prove his own point all the time, regardless of whether his point was legitimate or not.

 _Well, he has finally improved a bit, in terms of controlling his own temper._

She thought as she moved forward. This time he didn't step back. When she finally stood in front of him, she realized that the young Mazoku was much taller and bigger than she last saw him.

"If I stayed here, you'd become more and more frustrated," she raised her hand and stroked his hair fondly. "you'd keep trying because you don't want to disappoint me. You'd keep failing because your power wasn't mature enough. That's why I needed to leave. I was trying to give you time to grow up. So... forgive me?"

Seeing the girl's gentle smile, feeling her tender touch, Wolfram suddenly felt nostalgic. When was the last time she talked to him like this? He nodded tentatively and gently pulled her into a hug.

"I missed you, Moni."

* * *

"Unfair, unfair, that's unfair!"

The dark-hair king kept complaining under his breath while storming through the hallway, marching down the endless stairs. The maids and servants all scurried away as soon as they caught the sight of the now pissed-off demon king. It was unusual to see the well-tempered king to be so annoyed. If he was unhappy, everyone would be unhappy. All of them took a mental note : an irritated king was a scary king. Never anger him.

He swung the fifth double door forcefully, still couldn't find his newly conferred knight. Giving a cluck of impatience, he turned and continued his search.

He had to give his knight a piece of his mind for leaving him _alone_ to deal with all those sticky, _super noisy_ nobles, noblewomen and their _daughters_. At first, he had no idea why so many people would bother and come to a knighting ceremony. He thought maybe they were curious. Well, it turned out that he was being naïve again. He gritted his teeth at the thought. All those people came here because of _him_! Or, to be precise, because of the vacancy of the position of the queen! For god's sake, who's going to find another partner right after the moment the engagement ended, in front of the eyes of his ex-fiancé? Well, maybe Celi-sama might do that. But definitely, _not_ him!

It disgusted him when those women surrounded him and started flirting with him.

Who did they think he was? Some flippant guy who would flirt shamelessly with some women whom he had just met in a single night?

The heat inside was intensified when he recalled Wolfram's reaction. He expected to get at least a glare when those breast-showing ladies circled him at the corner. Instead, he got _nothing_! Not even a glance! When he struggled to see the blonde, he could only find him chatting with the soldiers in his team, exchanging a few words with his brothers and leaving the room. He wanted to call him over but he was too far away. When he tried to walk, there wasn't any way out at all!

 _And he swore that he would protect me_ _！_

He grumbled ironically in his mind and he deflated a little when the thought of Wolfram didn't care anymore even if he openly flirts with these women, or worse, he would push him towards them.

And there was the choking feeling of pain in his heart again. He got that a lot recently, since the day Wolfram told him that he wanted to be his knight.

He shook his head fiercely, attempting to get rid of the frustration. Walking along the maze-like corridor, Yuuri wondered which way he should go. Randomly, he took a direction that hopefully would bring him to Wolfram.

He remembered the calm look on the knight's face during the ceremony, when he knelt, lowered his head and listened to the king's speech. There was an instant when his emerald eyes looked up, glittering with mischievousness. Yuuri couldn't help but stared back while continuing his scripted speech. Then, there was Wolfram, mouthing the word "wimp" and smirked at him like he always did.

That was the moment when Yuuri was sure that he was in love with Wolfram.

It was the sounds of the bugs at night that reminded him that he was now outside the castle. He had no idea where he was as he walked aimlessly. He turned at the corner of the tower and heard something falling heavily on the ground. There were some weird-looking dummies on the floor, some were making creepy screams...

The young Mazoku was standing in the middle of the backyard, slightly panting because of the training. Yuuri wanted to call his name but stopped when someone jumped down from a tree.

It was a girl.

He didn't recognize this person but Wolfram seemed to know her since he had withdrawn his sword. Then, they started talking or rather, arguing...

 _Maybe it isn't the right time... it's rude to interrupt..._

The double black had thought of leaving but his feet just didn't move from the spot. For some reason, the annoyance returned to him when he saw Wolfram was with _a girl_ instead of him.

 _So...that's how jealousy feels like..._

He pondered, still observing the exchange between the girl and his ex-fiancé.

 _They're just talking. I can handle this. Maybe they're old friends._

He actually wanted to know what they were saying but it was just too far away. He waited and hoped the girl would go away. However, the reality just went against his wish. He frowned as the girl was walking closer to Wolfram.

Something unexpected happened. The girl started stroking his golden locks near his cheek, like a caring girlfriend. The strange thing was, he didn't snap her hand away...

Yuuri suddenly felt the hurt in his hands. He looked down and found his hands bleeding as he clenched them so tightly that his nails bit into his palms.

But he didn't care.

And he felt something in his mind cracked after what he had witnessed ...

Wolfram was embracing the girl , burying his head into the notch of her neck, whispering something in her ears.

Then, Yuuri heard the sound of a snap in his mind.

To be continued


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

He knew that he was extremely angry. He could feel the surge of Maryoku boiling inside him, going through his veins, ready to burst in any minute… He looked at his hands again, the wounds were healed; the dark blue light was surrounding his body, glowing in a dangerous manner.

There was a loud clap of thunder from above.

No, he couldn't lose control just because Wolfram was hugging a girl who came from nowhere. This was insensible , irrational and extremely childish! He was the king and by no means should he be acting on impulse. Gripping his own arms, he tried to stop himself from shaking with anger.

A small part of his mind told him to shout, to point at Wolfram and call him a cheater, accuse him of betraying him…

But the larger part, or his rationality, mocked and told him that he had no right to do any of those…

 _You're only his ex-fiancé, need a reminder?_

He gritted his teeth at the thought, wanting to break something.

He had imagined that Wolfram might love another person later, but he didn't expect it to be that soon.

He just couldn't accept it. Not so soon...

Glaring up at the sky, he sent a silent order, telling it to shut up. He didn't need any thunder or downpour here. He cursed lowly about the lack of practice on controlling the association of his mood with the weather.

 _It's not helping at all...stop reflecting my emotion!_

But to his relief, Wolfram and the girl had separated from each other, properly because of the loud noise.

 _Humph... that's better..._

With a deep breath, he stepped forward to them, the blue light slowly fading away but he had no idea that his face was still consuming with fury.

He needed some answers... now.

Actually, Monica sensed it. She had noticed the presence of the third person at the moment she leaped off the tree. From the intense reaction of Maryoku, she realized who this _somebody_ was.

But, she decided, nothing was more important than the precious reunion with dearest Wolfram at that moment. So, the demon king or whoever, just let him be.

The increase of the king's Maryoku intensity caught her attention when she was trying to get closer to the blonde.

 _Ah, I wonder..._

A mischievous idea popped up in her mind as she reached her hand to touch the soft, creamy skin of his face. As predicted, the level of the power of that hidden party surged immediately.

 _This, is getting interesting..._

It was the sound of thunder that almost caught her off guard. She didn't expect even the weather depended on the mood of the king.

Then she heard Wolfram mutter in a worried tone as he looked up at the sky. "Yuuri…"

In Monica's memory, the emotion that the young Mazuku possessed was anger, annoyance, rage and outrage. Well, she couldn't say emotion _s_ at all as these were more or less synonyms.

 _Concern? This is new._

She wondered when the demon king would show up and hopefully, she could have the chance to have a duel with him.

 _It would be fun._

"Er... Moni?" Wolfram called gingerly, now staring at her. He shifted his weight uncomfortably, a habit he showed when he had something to say but reluctant to.

She gazed back for a few seconds and raised an eyebrow. "You think you need to go back to _Yuuri_?"

The blonde blushed, stepped back further and looked away as if he had just seen something repulsive. "Moni! I told you to stop _reading_ my mind! That's just... disgusting!"

"Hey! How can you say this to me? I'm your…" she protested, puffing out her cheeks.

"His what?" a cold voice asked.

Both Monica and Wolfram whipped their heads to the newcomer. She started for a moment but quickly narrowed her ruby eyes and smirked.

"What do you think, your majesty?" she threw the question back to him, at the same time leaning on Wolfram's shoulder.

The double black king didn't reply. She saw the pupils of his raven eyes closing into slits.

 _This boy can't hide his emotions either._

"Ow... _scaaary…_ " she pretended to be horrified and hugged Wolfram, who shot the king a confused look, wondering if he had just stepped into a battlefield. The smell of 'gunpowder' was hard to miss.

Monica was laughing hysterically in her mind while burying her nose into his chest. She surely enjoyed rattling some cages, especially the demon king's.

There was a deadly moment of silence before Wolfram opened his mouth to speak, "Er... Yuuri? She is Monica, my teacher of Maryoku control."

He didn't know that the king could look so intimidating though he wasn't in his Maou mode, which he hadn't turned into since he could wield his magic well. Unlike the usual approachable, friendly aura that he had, now he seemed distant and cold. Wolfram even needed to brace himself before speaking!

"Ah, is she?" Yuuri asked, voice slightly lower than usual. He didn't break eye contact with Monica, as if taking a challenge. "You haven't told me about her."

Something felt off. His attitude wasn't normal. Wolfram hadn't seen him being less than friendly, let alone this hostile with anymore before.

"That's... because she disappeared a long time ago," he explained anxiously, didn't like how flustered his own voice sounded.

 _Wait...What's that?! It isn't like I'm cheating on him!_

"Well, then, Lady Monica," the king tried to relax himself a bit and acted as casual as he could. "Would you mind moving away from Wolfram? I need to talk to him."

He had actually considered pulling her away himself but he didn't want to appear to be too rude.

And he didn't want to risk pissing Wolfram off.

"Why?" she held back a giggle and peeked at him from the corner of her eye "You're just the king. It's not like you're his fiancé."

"Moni!" It was Wolfram who scolded. "You shouldn't be so impolite to Yuuri! He is my king! Apologize now!" He demanded as he pushed her away from him but couldn't since she was practically like glue with extra stickiness. She must have used some kind of magic to make herself so difficult to be removed from his body.

Yuuri definitely disliked what he was seeing, no matter the exchange between them or their seemingly intimate relationship.

"Alright, alright, I'm _sorry,_ okay?" she finally let go of Wolfram, waving her hands with annoyance. "Stingy king."

"Moni!"

"Yeah... yeah... whatever…" Monica replied lazily while starting to pick her ears. Her attitude was like a rebellious teenage girl who refused to listen to her parents.

To Yuuri's surprise, Wolfram sighed in exhaustion. It was rare to see the young Mazuko look so frustrated because of someone. And usually, the person who could frustrate him was only the king himself.

"By the way, what's that you're wearing?" Wolfram pointed at her clothes and shot her a disapproved look.

"Oh, this! Good job you finally notice it," Monica's face lightened up, elated that finally had noticed her gorgeous outfit. She turned and the skirt was floating with the motion. "This, is a high school uniform in Japan."

It was the first time Yuuri had noticed that Monica was wearing a dark blue sailor school uniform that was commonly worn by high school girls.

"High school? So you mean teenagers wear it?" Wolfram asked, feeling incredulous, "But I think you are too o-…"

Before he could finish talking, she covered his mouth, " Hey child, didn't Celi teach you _not_ to comment on a lady's age regardless how old they are?"

Monica glanced at Yuuri for the last time and said," Hmm… I'll leave you two alone for now. See ya~ "

Then she vanished within a second.

Wolfram blinked a few times and let out a long breath. He still couldn't believe she was really back, after all those years when he was little, waiting at the gate of the castle or looking outside the large windows. He forgot when he finally realized that his teacher wouldn't be back anymore and accepted to be taught by the newly appointed tutor.

But no one could be able to enlighten him like Monica did.

A light touch on his skin brought back his attention to the present.

"You've sweated a lot," the now calm and collected king murmured, brushing away the beads of sweats from the blond's forehead.

Finding the seemingly too intimate gesture inappropriate, Wolfram moved back a little, "I thought you'd retire early today."

If he was in his usual light-hearted mood, he would definitely give a reply such as "I'm way too young to retire.". But now he was not feeling like his normal making-clever-comments self, not in the slight bit. There was still some residence of annoyance left in the pit of his stomach.

So instead he replied, "I was looking for you," He didn't intend to, but there was a trace of accusation in it.

"Oh, is that it? " Wolfram asked, shifting his weight from one leg onto another. "Sorry, I was summoned by the nobles of my territory for an ad hoc meeting."

"Your uncle isn't going to convince you to go back, is he?" he frowned at the thought of last time he met the older Bielefeld Lord.

He shook his head, "Not really, they just wanted to confirm if there's any changes other than my title."

"Is that so?"

"And when I went back to the room, you were gone already, so I just came here to try my new sword a little."

At the mention of the weapon he personally chose for Wolfram, his mood had lightened up a little, "Do you like it?"

"It's a nice one," he said as he lifted up the now sheathed sword, "I didn't know you have the ability of choosing a decent sword."

Though he had indeed sought advice from both Conrad and Gunter, Yuuri didn't think he was that bad as a swordsman, "Can't you for once give me some credits without insulting me?"

Wolfram laughed as he saw the king's puffed cheeks, "I like it, thanks."

The smile on his face was gentle; with the moonlight shining on his honey blonde hair and the calm ripples in his eyes, he was stunningly beautiful.

It wasn't like Yuuri had just realized that he was beautiful; but now he had noticed his own feelings for Wolfram, he found himself struggling to find suitable words to form a reply.

 _If only I had realized it sooner._

Didn't wait for the other's reply, Wolfram said, "Next time I'll remember to tell you where I'm going before I leave your side."

Yuuri had almost forgotten that he was so pissed because of this, and the mysterious Jigoku Shoujo with pink hair. But now, he decided that nothing really mattered anymore, as long as he still had Wolfram with him.

 _He's still here. I still have a chance._

"Aren't you tired?" Yuuri asked, suddenly realizing that they were alone in a very quiet area. With Wolfram's emerald eyes on him, the feelings inside him go wild. He even started to feel a bit breathless. "I think you are. Let's go back in." Somehow he had answered the question himself as he grabbed the other's wrist. He had wanted to hold Wolfram's hand like he used to but thought better in the last second.

 _This time I'll do it properly._

He thought to himself.

 _I'll love him properly._


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

Yuuri woke up with a pair of panda eyes.

He had known that he would find the bed and the room too large when the occupants had reduced from the original three (Greta hadn't come here to sleep ever since she turned twelve) to two and then now only one.

But he didn't assume that it would affect him _that_ much.

After his one-hour attempt to fall asleep but failed, he started to think if he should sleep in the middle or on either side of the bed. Then, he suddenly remembered that Wolfram had moved into the room next to him because of his royal knight duty. Once the thought hit his mind, he began to wonder if it was possible to get Wolfram to move back to his room (and on his bed, even better) as he had once watched a movie about a close guard of a queen. He was like a shadow of the queen and lived in a room which was right next to her (there was only a thin door between their rooms). And eventually, of course, that guy became her secret lover and stayed in her bed from time to time.

 _Actually the queen kind of ordered him to provide her_ _that kind of_ _service._

Yuuri wrinkled his nose in distaste. He would never give Wolf such a revolting order. Even the mere thought disgusted him.

 _The guard himself was in love with the queen though._

He turned and faced the window, watching the dark, cloudless sky outside.

 _Isn't there quite a similarity between the story and the situation now? Wolfram is in love with me..._

He shook his head frantically, feeling the heat on his face. What on earth was he thinking? He turned to another side and stared at the empty half of the bed. Although Wolfram hadn't really confessed to him, Yuuri knew very well how the blonde felt about him through his actions and words. In the first year he spent in Shin Makoku, Wolfram reminded him every day that they were engaged by following him anywhere and terrorizing anyone who dared to come close to him. However, at some point of time, Wolfram didn't do that anymore although he still stayed by Yuuri's side. This made him think about a question.

 _Is Wolfram_ _ **still**_ _in love with me?_

He would be devastated if the answer wasn't affirmative. Anyways… he could consider building a mutual door between Wolf's room and his.

 _Right, let's settle on that one now._

He sighed and decided to focus on sleeping. But then, after about an hour, he started to wonder if Wolfram was asleep already and if he snored and if he occupied his whole bed and if he was wearing his white pajama or pink pajama and …

At last, he wondered if he could sneak in Wolf's room and sleep next to him.

He kept thinking about this and that and gradually fell asleep just an hour or so before dawn.

The first beam of sunlight shone into his room.

A soft knock on the door woke him. From his unrested state, he could tell that it was only 5 am or something... Did Conrad come early for the morning jogging?

Though he really didn't feel like leaving his bed (or even lifting his head from the pillow) , he forced himself up and walked towards the door at a snail's pace, dragging his feet along his way.

With a ghost-like expression on his face, he pulled the door open.

And the drowsiness was all gone in a blink of an eye. The person who was standing right in front of him was the one whom he had been thinking about during the past seven plus hours...

Or maybe more

The blonde looked a bit surprised when he looked up and saw his king's seemingly distraught state, which was totally unexpected. Knowing his ex-fiancé well, Wolfram was certain that he had an unsolved problem on his mind. Though there were days when he still looked exhausted or in bad spirits even after a full-night sleep, Wolfram hadn't seen him look this haggard before.

The usual spark in his eyes was absent. His complexion was paler than normal and the dark shadows under his eyes were hard to miss.

Seeing him like this made his heart ache.

And he had completely forgotten what he had planned to say.

It was Yuuri who broke the awkward silence. He cleared his throat before he said in an unusually hoarse voice, "Morning?"

Wolfram had to blink a few times before he could remember to reply, "Good morning, your majesty." He must keep the formality for the presence of the guards in front of the king's chamber.

But he regretted it once he noticed that Yuuri's expression turned even more miserable, if that's possible.

Forcing a smile on his lips, Yuuri moved a step away and suggested, "Why don't you come in first?"

The thought of saying 'no' appeared and vanished in merely two seconds. Wolfram didn't have the heart to reject him and worsen his mood, so he nodded and walked into the room.

Once hearing the door was closed behind him, Wolfram lifted his hand to the king's forehead and asked, "Yuuri, are you sick?"

The warmth of Wolfram's palm and the sound of his own name made him feel a bit better. With a weak smile, he took his hand, feeling glad to have an excuse to do so, "No, just lack some sleep."

The knight frowned and pursed his lips, silently demanding for an elaboration.

Yuuri had mixed feelings towards his reaction, guilty for making him feel worried while secretly being gleeful for his concern.

He knew he was pathetic.

"It wasn't like I was staying up late on purpose…" He scratched his cheek with his index finger, an old habit which Wolfram recognized he showed whenever he was nervous. "I just … couldn't sleep."

 _Because you weren't here._

How easy would it be if he could just tell Wolfram everything? The urge of telling Wolfram how he was feeling and how much he regretted not holding his hand properly was strong. Steadily, he breathed in and started counting to ten in his head.

"You shouldn't think too much," with a sigh, Wolfram said at last, "You know you need to rest well for good judgements, right?"

 _Here it is again._ Yuuri thought bitterly. _He never fails to remind me of my duties._

Unconsciously, he held his knight's hand a bit tighter.

 _It's not like I need any reminders though._

Just when Yuuri decided to act like a reliable king again, Wolfram laced their fingers together. With a trace of sad smile lingered on his lips, he said quietly, "You just need some time to get used to it."

 _Get used to… what?_

He found Wolfram's emerald eyes looking up at him. It was just like another normal day when he met his glances but the emotions reflected in the shade of green at the moment were too difficult to be interpreted. "You'll be fine in time, Yuuri."

He didn't know what triggered these overwhelming waves of possessiveness inside him, but all he wanted to do was to pull him into his arms and hold him tight.

And for once, he did.

"I know I probably shouldn't do this," Yuuri said, closing his eyes for a moment. "But hey, who cares? I'm the king, right?"

Wolfram was taken aback by the sudden gesture at first, but then relaxed and leaned on his shoulder. His heart beat was faster than usual and he scolded himself mentally for feeling this way again. "Your majesty, you know I have the habit of burning everything whenever I'm alarmed, right?"

Then, Wolfram felt his king shaking with laughter, "You can do that. I allow you to." He moved away a little to look at him again, smiling just too gently. "You can burn me if you want."

For some reason, Wolfram felt himself heating up at that.

"Ahem," Wolfram stepped backward to leave his embrace entirely, to Yuuri's disappointment. "Back to business, Yuuri. I'm here to report my schedule to you. Don't waste my time."

Feeling in a better spirit, Yuuri stretched his limbs and replied, "Alright, go on then."

Relieved to see his king back to be his usual self, Wolfram listed out all the tasks he was going to perform in the morning and everything would begin an hour later. That's why he was here so early in the morning.

"Then, my team will undergo the annual Maryoku and fitness assessment and…"

Catching the keyword, Yuuri's eyes grew wide. "Wolf, you said assessment? Did you just say assessment?"

Puzzled by his king's sudden weird outburst, the blonde nodded with a slightly stunned expression, "Yeah… is there a problem?"

Yuuri's reply was to smack his palm onto his own forehead a few times , "Assessment means exam right?"

"Yes?"

"I can't believe I totally forgot!" he exclaimed. "My final exam is scheduled for next week!"

Wolfram didn't know much about the education system on Earth, but when it comes to exams, it should be more or less the same as what students would expect to undergo in Shin Makoku.

He raised an eyebrow, "Have you started revising then?"

"Did you see me study?" Yuuri asked with an almost sadistic grin.

"Are you planning to start now?"

"Do I have a choice?" he covered his face with his hands and whined.

Wolfram snickered at his child-like behaviour, which was quite rare to see nowadays.

 _But it's kind of cute._ He thought fondly when he tugged at the king's sleeve and pulled him to move somewhere.

"Eh? Shouldn't I start studying?" he asked when he was pulled near the bed.

"Lie down."

Not sure of his knight's intention but he complied anyways.

"Close your eyes."

After throwing Wolfram a questioned look, he did, but refused to pass over the chance of making a 'clever' comment. "I think we should lock the door first," he said with an oddly high-pitched voice which sounded very much like Mickey Mouse and he failed to suppress a laugh.

And he earned a smack on his head for this (ouch!) "There is _not_ such a need."

Yuuri was very tempted to ask him to lie next to him but he didn't dare push his luck.

When he was wondering if he should say something, he felt the soothing warmth just above his eyes. The tiredness there was slowly easing away.

This was one of the special healing magical skills of fire wielders.

It felt so comfortable that he felt his consciousness gradually drifting away.

"A piece of advice for you, your majesty," he heard Wolfram's voice telling him, softly, calmly, "Rest well before you begin your work. It's your day off. You have a whole day for your study."

He was too much asleep to form a response. If he was more awake, he would have thanked him, telling him that he wouldn't know what to do without him, how much he needed him and asked him to stay by his side before he woke up again.

"I'll wake you up before I leave."

Yuuri wondered if his head was playing tricks or Wolfram had really said that but at that point, he had already fallen into a deep slumber.

* * *

The maids and servants were quite astonished when they saw Wolfram running in the corridor. It had been a long time ever since they found him doing that in the castle. The last time he did that was back a few years ago when he was chasing after the king shouting ''cheater!''.

Of course, they now know that he does it because he is in a hurry.

The maids stopped their chores and admired how stunningly beautiful he looked even though he was rushing through the people and trying to avoid bumping into anyone.

When he managed to reach the courtyard, he found himself couldn't step any further. He was unable to move all of a sudden. The next second, he felt a pair of hands on his eyes.

"Guess~ who?"

Clicking his tongue in annoyance, he scowled, "Moni, stop it. I don't have time for this."

"Tsk, you are no fun," shrugging, Monica walked around and faced him. "At least try to pretend to guess!"

"Please," Wolfram closed his eyes and counted to twenty. "I really have to go."

"I'm sure your soldiers can wait a little," she drawled, examining her nails.

"..." he pursed his lips into a thin line and shot her a disapproving look.

"What's with that face?" she puffed her cheeks, with her lower lip sticking out. "You have the time to spend with your king, ex-fiance, fake best friend, high school baseball benchwarmer aka wimp but have no time to spare for me? What in the Demon Kingdom is that possible?"

Wolfram opened his mouth and closed it for a few times, "I…"

"Huu..huu… let me guess…" she tapped a finger on her chin while staring into his eyes, "You like him so much that you risk being late on duty just to watch him sleep and ended up falling asleep too."

His face was burning at this point, "I told you not to…"

Monica raised her hand to halt his retort. "When you woke up, you found him sitting there, looking at you as if you meant the world for him…"

"Just stop talking non…"

She ignored his embarrassment completely. "… but you told yourself it was just an illusion…"

"It's not…"

"If you two are so much in love with each other, why not just get married already?" Monica put her hands on her hips and rolled her eyes. "That's kinda annoying."

It was the lack of response that made her look at his face again. He lowered his head, hiding his expression under his fringe.

"We… we aren't like that," he said finally, looking at her straight in the eyes. "I'm serious. Let me go this instant!"

By hearing Wolfram's tone, she knew that there wasn't any way that she could get any answers she wanted now. Sighing, she released him, "So… when are you starting the lessons?"

Finally getting the freedom, he moved his limbs a bit. "What lessons?"

"On Maryoku control, of course."

With this, Wolfram's eyes brightened, "Really? You're going to teach me again?"

Something just didn't change no matter how much time had passed. She smiled indulgently and nodded.

"Tonight, no! This evening !" as he began to run outside, turning back his head and called, "At the backyard! I'll definitely be there! Don't stand me up!"

She waved and giggled, "Told you that you would die to spend time with me~"

To be continued


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

Murata Ken couldn't remember when he had ever seen Shibuya study.

Then, the Great Sage was standing here, watching him memorizing as many things as he could and answering questions when he asked one.

"Shibuya, do you really think you can stuff all the things you need for the term exam in, like," Murata looked up to the right and thought for three seconds, "five days?"

He got no response but the continuous mumbling of history facts while scribbling on a piece of paper.

Exhaling noisily from his nose, Murata propped his chin on his hand, "By the way, I heard about you and von Bielefeld."

The pencil stopped for a moment, then it went on writing.

"Come on…" Murata adjusted his glasses, which reflected the sunlight and hid his eyes as usual, "You took the efforts of threatening to make me travel through the cup of Coke I was drinking... Now you just ask me to sit here and watch you reciting what happened during the Honno-ji Incident?"

"..." Shibuya didn't reply until he finished writing the last stroke of the word. "Why don't you make yourself useful by giving me some advice?"

Murata raised an eyebrow, "On what? Japanese history?"

Instead of speaking, Shibuya sat back and crossed his arms, staring at him straight in the eyes. It was almost a piercing gaze. Knowing him for more than five years, Murata was the one who noticed the king's changes the most. He was still the kind, nice, friendly Shibuya he used to be, but there were moments when he would show the aura of a king, stating the dominant power that was resting within him.

Of course, Murata knew exactly what he was asking. It took a week for him to have the exam on Earth. With the end of the engagement and the absence of the king, potential suitors everywhere would grab the chance to approach von Bielefeld since he was still the closest person to the throne. It would be highly unwise if the king didn't take certain measures to protect his knight before he departed.

The Great Sage's lips turned into a smirk, "Now we're getting somewhere."

* * *

Wolfram was still thinking about the new Maryoku control technique Monica taught him in the lesson just half an hour ago.

He looked around and checked if there was anyone nearby while he was walking in the corridor. It was desert and quiet at night. Opening his right hand, he breathed in slowly and steadily. There were some small tongues of deep orange flame on his right palm. They were burning beautifully. Wolfram looked at them and tried to focus. They slowly turned into a more bluish colour, but there was still some trace of orange. When he wanted to concentrate more, the flames burst out and vanished.

Pouting a little, he stopped in front of a door. He knocked, waited for the consent upon entering and pushed open the door.

Yuuri didn't look up when Wolfram walked into his office. To his surprise, he was reading a document of the kingdom other than studying for his exam. He gave Wolfram quite a different impression whenever he was deep in thought. The serious expression on his face made him look more mature. The distant and emotionless obsidian eyes reminded Wolfram of the comment once he heard from the nobles about Yuuri.

 _The most formidable monarch since Shinou._

"Wolfram?"

He blinked, and it took several beats before he saw the warm smile directing at him. Whatever he saw a minute ago was like his own imagination. The knight smiled back while walking across the room and stood next to him, ignoring the normal manners which required him to keep his distance."I thought you're having a day off today."

"I am," he said and went on signing his name on the parchment. "But I find dealing with the kingdom's documents easier than studying some Maths equations."

Wolfram observed as he wrote his name stroke by stroke. He had seen the king's signature for more than a thousand times but it always fascinated him how different the characters on Earth were from their language.

His glance landed on the notebook and pencil case near him on the desk. He picked up a pen and examined it. It felt light in his hand and the material was foreign, smooth and hard.

"Have you used a pen to write before?" Yuuri always found Wolfram's curiosity towards the products on Earth endearing.

Wolfram shook his head, "Why would I have?" He held it up between his fingers and looked at it more closely. "I don't even know how to hold it properly."

"Oh, that's easy," Yuuri picked up another pen from the pencil case, showing him how it was held. "Just like this."

Wolfram glanced sideways at him, leaned a bit closer to the table and tried to imitate his pose.

"See? You almost get it perfect," the young king smiled, adjusting Wolfram's index finger a little. "Here, now you can start writing."

Turning to a blank page of his notebook, he pushed it towards Wolfram.

Surprised, he stared at the lined page, then at his king. "What am I supposed to write?"

"Er…" Yuuri thought for a while. "Write my name."

He didn't think he had suggested anything that would cause Wolfram to blush but he did anyways, "I think I would prefer writing _my_ name instead."

"Oh, okay then."

"Aren't you going to show me how to write it?"

"Eh?" It took a few moments before he realized what Wolfram meant. "Ah, you're writing it in Japanese."

Instead of waiting for a reply (which was very likely not a friendly one), Yuuri began to write the Katakana onto the paper, "Since your full name is too long, let's just write your first name."

It wasn't easy to write in a language one wasn't familiar with but Wolfram managed to duplicate what Yuuri had written.

The blonde frowned slightly when he finished his work. "How come my name looks so different from yours?"

"That's because mine is in Kanji," he considered how he could explain the various writing systems in Japanese. "I guess that's like capitalization or something like that."

When Yuuri looked at him again, he was busy trying to write something else.

In the end, Wolfram was writing his name.

He was so focused that he didn't notice the other's stare. He was close enough to see Wolfram's long eyelashes shaking slightly. There were a few wisps of stray hair near his ear. They were just swaying near the knight's pale earlobe.

That was when he noticed that Wolfram had his ears pierced.

"I didn't know that you've ear piercings."

When 'Shibuya' was written, he leaned closer to Wolfram and he could smell the fresh scent of meadow from him.

"Ah… Mother made me do it when I was really young," he replied, eyes still focus on his writing. "I think I was only fifty then."

"Why don't you wear any earrings?" Yuuri asked conversationally.

With a sigh, he said, "You know, I have enough people talking about my looks already," his eyes became dim at this. "I would try anything that would make me look a bit plainer," he smiled bitterly. "Not that I'm bragging."

While watching Wolfram writing the word 'Yuu' slowly, neatly on the paper, Yuuri told him without thinking, "You are much more than just being beautiful."

He expected to get a mocking reply such as 'Don't flirt with me, your majesty' but instead, he saw the faint blushing on Wolfram's cheek. He smiled a little and said, "Thanks."

It appeared that he had recognised how the words were written since Yuuri didn't see him checking his signature at all. The way Wolfram pursed his lips while concentrating was a bit too distracting.

"Wolfram?"

He gave Yuuri a soft reply of 'Hm?' but didn't look his way, his mind still on the last word.

Yuuri was too fascinated to really process what had been on his own mind but when Wolfram's smile broadened and happily announced that he had finished writing his whole name, Yuuri raised his hand and tugged the locks back to behind Wolfram's ear. He turned and met his king's obsidian eyes.

They were too close. Too close so Wolfram forgot to breathe.

"Wolfram, I…"

At that moment, he remembered that he was a knight. He took a deep breath and stood straight. "There's a report I must give Aniue. I need to go," he said and marched out of the king's office.

After the door was shut, Yuuri let out a long sigh and leaned back to his chair, staring at the two names on his notebook.

To be continued


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

It was one of those cloudless days when he needed to travel back to Earth.

"Get everything you need with you," Murata told him this every time they were ready to leave.

There weren't many people here to see them leave this time as it was only a short ten-day trip. Other than the three brothers, only Gunter was present, Monica and the others were nowhere to be seen.

"Your majesty, be safe," Conrad handed him his backpack with his usual smile.

The king raised an eyebrow but made no movement to get the bag.

"Alright," he said in a surrendered tone. "good luck with your exam, Yuuri."

Satisfied, he returned the smile and grabbed his bag, "Thanks. I'll work hard."

"Oh… how pertinacious you are, your majesty…"Gunter blew into his handkerchief. "I'm so proud of you."

Yuuri let out a dry laugh, sweat-dropped. He turned to Gwendal and nodded, "I've finished reading most of the documents that are due today," he adjusted the strip on his shoulder. "I'll leave the rest of them for you to handle. Sorry about that."

The stoic man grunted in reply with a slight nod, reserved as usual.

When Yuuri wanted to turn to his knight, Murata commented, "It's about time, Shibuya."

He glanced at his sage, and decided to humour him. Staring at the calm, flowing water in the fountain, Yuuri felt the stir of his magic and the response of the portal.

Every time Yuuri gazed at the water and used his magic, Wolfram could feel his heart flutter. Maybe that was because of the rare serious expression he wore while he did it.

The water started to swirl, forming a small whirlpool.

"Murata, you can go first," he motioned quietly.

The sage sent him a skeptical look, but then shrugged and complied anyways, hopping into the current without hesitation.

"Wolfram," he called, left hand on the edge of the fountain.

The blonde stepped forward, looking up and waiting for an order to take.

They had spent the previous night talking in the knight's bedroom already. Wolfram thought he would have left without anything else to say.

"I'd like to ask you for a favour," the tone the king used was light, but there was a trace of seriousness in his eyes.

"What is it?"

Yuuri glanced around at the others. After bowing, Conrad and Gwendal began to walk away without further signal, dragging a wailing Gunter with them.

His gaze landed back on Wolfram, who had a bewildered look on him. Chuckling slightly, he leaned in and said in his ear, "Miss me."

He must go now. So, he jumped into the water after he had taken a deep breath, disappearing into the fountain.

Wolfram blinked, standing very still, not recognizing what had just happened.

"Eh?"

* * *

The following few days in the Blood Pledge Castle passed by rather uneventfully, nothing special other than some stray animals lost their way and wandered around the palace from time to time.

The castle was tranquil.

In fact, it was a bit _too_ quiet.

Wolfram frowned, snapping shut _Advanced Maryoku Control for Modern Fire Wielders Volume Two_ , which was as thick as a tomb.

At first he thought that's because of the king's absence. But then, he dismissed the idea quickly, especially when the last two words Yuuri had told him came back and occupied his mind. Really, Wolfram had no idea what he was getting at. Of course he would have missed him even if he didn't tell him to do so.

 _I mean, everyone here would miss him._

Walking across the room, he shook his head. He kept feeling that something was off.

It felt like there was something that he had forgotten.

Before he had put his hand onto the door handle, it was swung open, nearly hitting him right in his face if he didn't dodge fast enough.

"Wolfram!"

"Wolfie!"

He found himself being wrapped around with one, then two pairs of arms, the first one around his shoulders while the other one around his head. The next second he was buried into very familiar ample bosoms, suffocating him tightly.

"We are back~" they chirped in unison.

Now he remembered what he had forgotten... It was the day when his mother and his daughter came back from their cruise.

He still recalled the day when they set off, with Greta waving her handkerchief joyfully on that colossal ship, Celi standing beside her, smiling equally brightly, yelling , "We'll be back soon~". They totally ignored the king of this kingdom, who was on the floor after his fruitless attempt of begging his daughter not to go. The way he was sobbing in Wolfram's shoulder was pathetic. He kept muttering about Greta's innocence being taken away by some indecent men and coming back heart-broken while being pregnant.

Wolfram understood how worried he was and had wanted to comfort him by saying that his mother would protect her, but then he thought better and told Yuuri that he didn't need to worry too much since Yozak was following them.

Before Wolfram could check if his daughter was fine, he had to make sure that he wasn't suffocated...

"Nnnnnn…" he protested and struggled.

"Hm? Wolfie? What did you say?"

"I said I can't breathe!" pushing hard, he finally got some oxygen into his lung.

Giggling, both of the ladies let go of him. He took the chance to scan through Greta, who was wearing a light blue dress. She became much taller once she had turned twelve. Fortunately, there wasn't any sign which indicated that there were any babies in her abdomen.

"Welcome back, Mother, Greta," he said, smiling a bit.

"Wolfram, I missed you so much!" Greta exclaimed, hugging him again.

"Aw... how sweet," Celi cooed. "This little girl kept telling me how much she has missed you all through the journey, saying that all those men she has met weren't even close to how handsome you are."

"Eh... Celi-sama, you shouldn't have told him that," she pouted, face getting red but then she added proudly. "But of course Wolfram is the handsomest man in this world."

"How about Yuuri-heika then?" the ex-queen asked mischievously.

Greta crossed her arms and huffed, the gesture looking exactly like what Wolfram did sometimes. "Yuuri is stupid. He didn't manage to marry Wolfram in time. I'm not talking to him for a month!"

Wolfram gasped at this, "How... how did you know about it?"

"Everyone in this kingdom knows about this," she replied, playing with the lace on her dress. "I think I'm going to say hello to Anissina, see ya around." Then she walked across the room and left.

He could tell that she wasn't happy about that. Maybe he should talk to her later.

"She cried when she heard the news," Celi commented, sitting down on the sofa. "But now she's old enough to hide her true feelings."

He sighed, "But then she may have got a mother very soon."

Leaning back on the sofa casually, he glanced at his mother and found a pair of emerald eyes that were strikingly similar to his staring back at him.

"What?"

"Wolfram, do you honestly think so?"

"What do you mean?"

"Do you really think Greta would be happy to replace you with a so-called 'mother'?" Celi's tone went uncharacteristically serious. "or that Yuuri-heika would get himself a queen?"

He shrugged, averting his gaze to the side, "Yes, why not?"

She let out an exaggerated sigh, "I don't realize that you can be this oblivious when you choose to be."

He didn't give any response to this.

"Aw... poor Yuuri-heika, I understand why he wrote me the letter now," she clasped her hands together lovingly. "He really needs some help here, with you being deliberately difficult."

This must be the last thing he had expected to hear. He turned his head alarmingly towards her, "What letter?"

He had a bad feeling about this. When he saw Celi's cheeky, triumphant smile, he shuddered, "Mother?"

"Don't worry," she chirped cheerfully, "He basically just required my alliance. His words are 'I hope that Celi-sama would be on my side though I know I was once a fool who had let go of Wolfram's hand.'..."

She peeped at her son for the reactions and snickered. His face turned from pale, to blue, then to scarlet. "How romantic!" she exclaimed, wiggling her body in excitement. "You know, as a great fan of free true love, I would definitely support him on this matter! I've always known that my Wolfie and Yuuri-heika are meant to be together! Oh... such a passionate love confession... I'm sure that at night…"

Wolfram stood from the sofa abruptly, raising a palm towards her, "Look, Mother, I've no idea what you're going on about…"

He could feel his pulse rate increasing in a dangerous manner, face heating up, palms sweating. Yuuri wouldn't do this, would he?

Celi giggled and put her beautifully manicured hand onto Wolfram's arm, "Calm down, Wolf. Here, I've brought it with me. Read it."

He eyed the envelope as if it was a poisonous serpent. With a shaky hand, he took the letter, opened it and started reading...

 _Dear Celi-sama,_

 _I hope this letter finds you and Greta well. Sorry for interrupting your trip but I have something I must inform you before I set off to Earth for my exam._

 _As you might have noticed already, the engagement of Wolfram and I was annulled due to the three-year time limit. Ironic it may seem, I just realized my true feelings towards him right before the knighting ceremony. No matter how much I regret taking Wolfram's love and care for granted, it was already too late. We cannot be as close as we used to be, at least not in front of other people. What I'm trying to convey in this letter is, I admit that I was too prejudiced and ignorant to even consider my relationship with Wolfram and now I really want to amend my mistakes. I'll give him all my love and care if I'm allowed to._

 _I hope that Celi-sama would be on my side though I know I was once a fool who had let go of Wolfram's hand._

 _Yours sincerely,_

 _Shibuya Yuuri_

He gasped once he finished reading the letter. This couldn't be... this couldn't be true. Yuuri must have been very ill if he was really the one who composed this letter, or, someone else told him to write it, for whatever political reasons...

Yes, this must be it!

"Ah, I get it now," handing back the letter to Celi, his breathing became much steadier. "The Great Sage asked him to write it."

Celi raised an eyebrow, "Oh, it could be but I don't think Yuuri-heika would do something he didn't want to."

He waved a hand towards the comment, "He just wants to make sure that I wouldn't go anywhere. That's why he's lying to himself, and other people around him."

That's much better. He could breathe more easily now.

"I think you should have a little more faith in him, Wolfram," she suggested sadly.

"I trust Yuuri with my whole heart, always," he said, walking to the door. "He is my king."

Shutting the door close, he left. It's time for the routine training with his squad.

He looked through the huge glass windows while walking in the corridor. There were an unusual number of guards standing near the entrance of the castle.

Speaking of crowds, there didn't seem to be any visits from nobles or officials these days. Usually, there would be a few every day... that's why the castle was this quiet.

"Have you heard about the imperial order?" one of the maids asked, trotting briskly at the end of the corridor.

"Of course I have," the other maid giggled. "This move of his majesty is way too obvious."

Both girls laughed while carrying the heavy baskets of laundry downstairs. "Yeah, it's really bold of him to do it. It's practically a threat to everybody who dares to lay a hand on Lord Wolfram."

"I wish there is a man who would do this for me," the first maid then said dreamingly.

"Only a king can do this," the other replied, their giggling disappeared down the stairs.

Wolfram's pace quickened. He ran to the entrance of Blood Pledge Castle, ignoring the people gawking and the long distance he had to run.

The large parchment on the main entrance was hard to miss...

 **Imperial order from the 27** **th** **Demon King**

 **All kinds of visits to Blood Pledge Castle are forbidden until further notice.**

 **All non-business-related letters, except letters from family members, are also temporarily banned.**

 **Individuals who violate the order entail a duel with the king himself.**

 **The order issued above takes immediate effect.**

It took all Wolfram's efforts not to faint on the spot...

 _Yuuri... what have you done?_

To be continued.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

His emerald eyes kept staring at the oversized pool of the royal bathroom. It was practically more like a swimming pool than a bathtub.

Still wearing his pure white knight uniform, Wolfram was sitting on the edge of the pool, watching the calm water surface. He could see his own reflection looking back at him. It looked tired, dim and lost in thoughts.

For the last five days, he was questioned by different people in the castle, about the reasons for the imperial order and when they could work as usual again. Since visits to the castle were forbidden, all the trades and agreements that required face-to-face negotiations were postponed. Gwendal was actually fuming once he was informed of the news.

Not to mention the rumours... They were spread like wildfire and there were various versions ranging from the conspiracy of Gwendal planned to isolate the current king so as to overthrow him, to Wolfram would soon be kept as the concubine of the king.

And there were also some more mild ones like the king had fallen in love with the knight so he didn't want anyone to lay their claws on him while he was away from the kingdom.

Wolfram shook his head and tried not to think about any of those problems. He forced himself to focus on the water. He didn't know why he kept coming here at night. Yuuri didn't tell them when he would come back or where he would arrive. Usually, if he left from the fountain, he would come back from the fountain. But somehow Wolfram thought, he should wait here.

He was really pissed with the king right now and he demanded some answers.

But then, Yuuri's exam lasted for a week. He wouldn't be back today.

The blonde let out a sigh and ran his fingertips through the warm water. It felt soothing and comfortable and he relaxed a little.

The water in the pool rippled. Then, the center of the pool started to swirl. It twisted faster and faster until there was a whirlpool forming. The king with raven hair emerged from the water, breathing in a mouthful of air.

"Wolfram?" he looked up and asked. Once he saw Wolfram, a smile appeared on his face. He stood and made his way to the blonde knight.

He wasn't wearing his black school uniform but a casual light green sweater, which enhanced his easygoing, boyish, sunshine-like charm.

Wolfram looked up at him and blinked while he was walking towards him. It took him a few moments before he remembered his manners. He quickly stood and handed his king a towel out of habit.

Although Yuuri could remove all the water on his body with a snap of his fingers, he took it anyways. "Thanks," Yuuri grinned and wiped his face briefly before evaporating all the water droplets clinging to him. "Are you waiting for me?"

There were a million things that Wolfram wanted to shout at him, like _'Do you know how much trouble you have got me into?'_ , or _'Why didn't you tell me about the order, the letter, anything at all, before you left?'._ But in the end, once Wolfram had seen the person in question, he just managed to nod without saying a word.

 _The letter…_

He suddenly remembered what Yuuri had written in his letter to his mother. He felt his cheeks heating up and he lowered his gaze.

He didn't know how he should feel about it. It was practically a love confession. If it happened a few years back, he would have jumped with joy. However…

 _Whatever written in the letter mustn't be true. He wouldn't… and I shouldn't get any wrong ideas either! After all those years I have tried so hard to…_

"What's wrong, Wolfram?" the king asked in a concerned tone when he saw the blonde lowering his head and avoiding his gaze. He was leaning in so that he could look at the knight from below. "Are you alright?"

Wolfram clenched his fists, he was so confused, frustrated and _furious_ that he started trembling. After a few seconds, he looked straight into those obsidian eyes, "Yuuri, why did you write to my mother?"

Obviously surprised, Yuuri's eyes widened. Before he could open his mouth to answer, Wolfram asked another question, raising his voice slightly, 'And why did you issue such a ridiculous order before you left?'

"Wolfram, I know you would be mad if I…"

"Then why did you do that?" he demanded, hot, angry flames were burning in his eyes.

He knew he probably shouldn't, but Yuuri couldn't help but admire how beautiful Wolfram looked even when he was fuming.

 _Get a grip! This isn't the time._

Yuuri reminded himself. He made all his efforts to study and finish his exam days earlier so that he could come back sooner to see Wolfram, whom he spent days and nights thinking of while he was on Earth. And now he wouldn't want to anger Wolfram any further.

"Wolf, I need you to listen to me," Yuuri used his calmest tone, attempting to ease the tension just a little. He reached out to take the knight's hand but the blonde stepped away, avoiding his touch.

"Forgive me for my manners, your majesty," Wolfram said quietly, bowing his head slightly. "I think you need to rest."

Yuuri felt a stab of sharp pain in his heart when he heard it. Somehow he had messed up again. He understood very well that when Wolfram didn't want to talk, he had better not try to push it. He lowered his hand and asked, "Promise to listen to me later?"

Still not looking at him, Wolfram slowly nodded.

"Goodnight, Wolfram."

"Goodnight."

Yuuri watched as he walked out of the royal bathroom. Grabbing his backpack from the pool, he sat on the edge and looked at the water.

He didn't think he could sleep tonight.

* * *

Yuuri sighed the twentieth time as he was doing his paperwork.

"Maybe you should take a break, your majesty," Conrad suggested.

"I don't think I should," he replied, reading the next document. "Or else Gwendal would be crossed with me again."

"Take a break for half an hour," a super deep voice said, from Gwendal, who was entering the office. "Your progress is getting slower."

Yuuri frowned. He was being hard-working. He thought the grey-hair chief adviser would be pleased.

"Gwendal is worried that you may be overworked," Conrad commented helpfully. "You came back from Earth and have started working straight for a week already."

Gwendal coughed loudly to hide his embarrassment. He wasn't good at showing his kindness to others.

"But I thought I need to make up for the mess I made."

"You have done that already," the stoic man said. "Just go and take your break."

"Why don't you go for a walk in the garden?" Conrad offered.

"Why would I want to go to the garden?" Yuuri muttered under his breath while scribbling on the parchment, emitting dark aura everywhere in the room. "Wolfram is not talking to me and now even _Greta_ is not talking to me…"

There was a wrinkle forming on Gwendal's forehead.

Conrad smiled good-naturedly while he grabbed the king by his shoulders and threw him out of the office.

Another sigh left his lips when he walked towards the garden, dragging his feet, shoulders slumped. The maids and servants didn't dare bother him since it had been cloudy for seven days already. They didn't want any thunderstorms soon.

"Yuuri-heika~~" an unmistakably sweet voice chirped.

He looked around. The former queen was waving at him from the leisure chair in the garden, a cup of tea on her other hand.

"Good afternoon, Celi-sama," he greeted, gave her a weak smile and took a seat near her.

"Ala, why the long face?" she asked, sipping her tea. "Things didn't go well with Wolfie?"

He shook his head. "He's avoiding me."

The only time Yuuri had seen him was the reporting time in the morning and in the evening. He didn't want to talk about things other than formal matters.

"Maybe you should ambush him in his room tonight," she suggested with a wink.

"Wh-What are you saying? Celi-Sama?" his face turned scarlet as he stammered, jaw-dropped. "He's your son!"

"I don't see any problem with that," she said, touching the rim of the delicate teacup. "You're in love with each other."

Yuuri pursed his lips and averted his gaze, "That's true for me. But I think maybe it isn't the same for Wolfram." He kept wondering what he should do to fix things between them these days. But it was just getting worse. "Maybe he doesn't love me like he used to be anymore."

Celi giggled behind the back of her hand, "Do you know that he kept waiting for you at the pool once he was free from his duties?" she asked him fondly. "Every day, before you were back."

He felt his heart race and he flushed, "But then... why?"

"He was mad at you, but he couldn't stop missing you," she stated in a dreamy voice. "He wanted to see you again though he couldn't believe you really mean what you wrote in the letter."

Yuuri breathed in deep, "How can I make him believe then?"

"Just jump him."

"I'm serious!"

"Okay,okay…" she laughed, raising her hands slightly as surrender. "Talk to him at the ball."

A ball to celebrate his birthday was scheduled next week. Everyone was busy preparing for it at the moment and the guards were training extra intensively, getting ready to protect the guests from various kingdoms.

"Just tell him how you feel on that day."

Yuuri leaned back onto the chair, hesitance was shown on his face."Celi-Sama, you really think Wolfram is still in love with me?"

"Only a blind person like you can't see it." she crossed her arms. "Honestly, you just need to take off your…"

Yuuri stood from his seat and smiled. A ray of sunlight shining through the clouds. "Thanks for your advice, Celi-sama." Stretching his limbs, he told her, "I think I know what to do now."

The former queen beamed, picking up her teacup again.

It's just nice to see her future son-in-law to return to his optimistic self.

To be continued


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

In spite of the fact that the Demon King had stated very firmly and clearly that he had no interested in seeking a spouse anytime soon, the ball held in the Blood Pledge Castle was still packed with people.

Being used to people gossiping about him in his presence, Wolfram expressionlessly watched as maids busily carrying food and drinks around to the guests, ignoring the noblewomen, who kept glancing at him from time to time behind those laced fans covering their mouths.

He was standing just a few steps away Yuuri. Afterall, he was a knight and it's his job to make sure that the king was safe. Everyone in this room knew very well that their king was more than capable to protect himself. Few months ago, the assassin who tried to kill him ended up almost choked to death by his own saliva even before he managed to get his dagger from his clothes.

" _Sorry, I've just rearranged the location of your body fluid," Yuuri said, looking down at the assassin on the floor, with an expression that looked as if he was just explaining about something perfectly normal."It won't kill you but please don't try to kill me again."_

Sometimes Wolfram wondered what Gunter had taught him during his maryoku control lessons. The lavender-haired adviser was always secretive about the content of magic-related classes he had with Yuuri. But he made sure to boast about how talented and powerful his majesty was. From time to time, Yuuri would show Wolfram his latest tricks.

The blonde shuddered at the memory of some of the "tricks".

Who in the world would use water like _that?_

The sounds of loud applause snapped him out of his trains of thought. The demon king himself made his entrance. Other than his usual high school black uniform, he was wearing a black suit instead, since he told others that he would graduate from the school very soon and he would feel like he was cosplaying if he still wore a uniform after that.

Actually no one would bother what he wore as long as it was black.

There were some high-pitch squeals from the crowd while Yuuri was walking towards the centre of the ballroom.

Well, maybe some people would bother.

Yuuri nodded and waved at the guests, wearing his usual friendly smile on his face. When he saw Wolfram in the crowd, he held his gaze until the blonde met his eyes.

The ladies gave another round of squealing and giggles when the king's beam turned more loving and gentle.

Wolfram quickly looked somewhere else when he felt the flicker and flutter in his heart. The king always has such an effect on him, which bothered the knight a lot.

As usual, once the orchestra started playing the music, the young king took the hand of the ex-queen. They danced in the centre of the hall and the others followed suit after a while.

"Do I have the honor to dance with you, my handsome prince?" a sweet voice asked with a slight giggle.

Wolfram turned and saw Greta, who was wearing a long, yellow summer dress, smiling up at him. He returned the smile and took her hand, "Sure, it's my pleasure, my princess."

She grinned and pulled him near the centre of the room, the whim her dress flapping with the motion, catching the attention of some gentlemen in the ball room.

And Yuuri couldn't stop himself from peeking at them from the corners of his eyes.

"Didn't Gunter teach you to keep your eyes on your dancing partner?" the ex-queen asked with a deliberately flirtatious voice, a teasing smile playing on her lips.

Feeling embarrassed about getting caught, Yuuri turned his eyes back onto Celi, "Sorry. I was a bit distracted tonight."

The blonde lady just giggled joyfully.

"Wolfram, you are really good at dancing," the teenage girl commented as she swirled. "I don't need to think about my next steps at all."

"You are good at it too," Wolfram told her.

They danced smoothly and slowly without any hesitations, grabbing the chance to chat with each other about all kinds of subtle things.

Greta did most of the talking, while Wolfram just listened patiently and gave little responses from time to time.

The music gradually grew softer, signaling the end of this dance was near.

"Ah, I wish I can dance with you longer," Greta said, looking up at him.

"Why don't we dance in the next song as well?"

She shook her head, "Wolfram, can you promise me something?"

Surprised with the serious look on her face, Wolfram's eyes widened, "What is it?"

The final note of the violin was gentle, as if it was a whisper in someone's ear.

"Make up with Yuuri for me?"

Her last syllable ended with a push on his shoulder.

Taken aback by her sudden action, Wolfram stepped back a little and bumped onto the person behind him.

"I'm sorry. I…" he turned, feeling a little confused. Wolfram raised his glance and met Yuuri's obsidian eyes, looking equally surprised.

At the exact moment, the music stopped. The noblewomen were pushing their ways through the crowd, hoping to reach and dance with one of them.

Oblivious to the surrounding, the king raised his hand and asked,"Shall we dance?"

The way he smiled was charming enough to melt many ladies' hearts.

And Wolfram was dazed by everything that was happening. He could feel the heat on his cheeks but he forgot how he was supposed to react.

It was the first time Yuuri had ever asked to dance with him. Wolfram waited and waited in the past years for the king to walk towards him. He forgot when he had given up waiting already. When what he had imagined for numerous times really came true, Wolfram didn't know what to do.

"Wolfram?"

He blinked, inhaled deeply to calm himself and put his hand onto Yuuri's extended one. "Sure."

Relieved, the king placed his other hand onto Wolfram's waist. "Can I lead?" he asked, looking at Wolfram into his eyes as he was trying to keep down his own nervousness.

"Of course you should," Wolfram replied quietly, trying to look sure. "You are the king."

Unlike the previous upbeat music, this song was a romantic one. The guests were automatically getting closer to one another.

"I swear I didn't plan any of this," Yuuri said tentatively once he noticed the style of the music that was playing softly in the background.

Wolfram let out a frustrated sigh, "That's probably Greta and Mother's idea. They didn't stop hinting that I should make peace with you tonight."

"I hope this doesn't get the opposite effect."

The blonde moved his lips a little but didn't reply.

The two of them then danced quietly, meeting each other's eyes. The silence between them was comfortable but the attraction and longing they sensed made everything feel different tonight.

 _This time I won't let go of your hand again._

Near the end of the song, Yuuri gave him a smile, a boyish, tender one, "Do you think we should be alone for a while? Let's go somewhere quiet," he suggested, squeezing Wolfram's left hand a little, the hand on his waist pulling him a little closer. "Just the two of us."

Hearing this, Wolfram stared up at him lazily, ignoring the chaos the king caused in his heart. "Do you think these people will let you get away?" He glanced around the hall and saw all those ladies in various shapes, sizes and incredibly fancy dresses. But all of them had eagle eyes aiming at Yuuri.

"I have my way."

Glancing back at the king, Wolfram narrowed his eyes, didn't quite like the mysterious smile the other kept showing on his face.

When the music was slowly fading away, Yuuri announced in a loud, clear voice, "Ladies and gentlemen, thanks for coming to celebrate my birthday. To express my gratitude to all of you, I would like to show you something."

The music ended once he finished saying his last word. At the same time, he grinned cheerfully at Wolfram and he noticed that the king was still holding his left hand.

Yuuri raised his other hand and yelled, "Eritque arcus!"

From the ceiling, huge amount of water with different colours was splattering in mid- air. The most absurd thing was, it seemed to come down to the people but it wasn't. Once the water nearly reached the people, it became some colourful water vapours and floated around the guests.

"How amazing!"

"It's gorgeous!"

Even Wolfram was caught off guard. He couldn't help but held up his hand a bit and examined the creamy light green steam that was drifting around him.

While the people were too busy admiring the fascinating floating water droplets, Yuuri tightened the grip of his hand and told him, "Let's go."

They had no trouble leaving the main hall as many of the guests began to gather near the stage when an eye-catching fountain which was made of ice appeared. The water streams going up were in seven colours and they are astonishingly dazzling and attractive to watch.

Everything was happening too quickly and it was a few moments later when Wolfram finally remembered to ask the king where they were going.

The response he got was, "We're almost there."

Indeed, they didn't go too far away. Yuuri just brought him to the field which was outside the main castle. With their hands still holding, they walked slowly further away from the bustle and hustle noises coming from the building.

Looking up the sky, tonight the weather was delightfully fine. The stars were shining brightly up in the pitch-black sky. There seemed not to be a single cloud in it.

"Do you like it?"

Not sure about the meaning of the question, Wolfram turned his gaze back to the king, puzzled.

Instead of clarifying, Yuuri smiled and raised his hand a little, his palm facing the sky.

Little colourful water droplets were floating in the air. They were magically bright even without any source of light. The water vapours looked like millions of fireflies in various colours.

Fascinated by the dazzling scenery, the corners of Wolfram's lips lifted a little. "When did you learn such a fancy trick?"

"Last week?" Yuuri replied, obviously glad that his knight was talking to him again. "You know Gunter knows all kinds of flashy magic tricks."

Then everything went dark again after a while.

"I think I like it," Wolfram told him, a graceful smile appeared on his face.

Yuuri didn't remember the last time when he saw Wolfram smile like this, so, for a few moments, he had forgotten what he was planning to say.

They just stayed silent for a while, looking at each other quietly without feeling a slight of discomfort or unease. The only sound they could hear was the bugs somewhere far away in the wood.

It took all his efforts not to pull Wolfram into a hug or hold his hand or kiss him. Yuuri inhaled deeply before he spoke, "Wolfram, I want to apologise about what I did last month. I'm really sorry."

Wolfram decided that he would be honest with himself this time. He knew that he could never be angry with Yuuri for long. Every time he saw the sincere expression on the king's face, he felt like he could forgive anything he had done.

"Okay, apology accepted," sighing heavily, Wolfram said. "But I really would like to know why in the world you would do such stupid things," he blew away the wisps of fringe that kept falling in front of his eyes. "Aniue practically _exploded_ once he found out what you have done."

As time passed, Wolfram forgot all those strange speculations about Yuuri's motives he once had. At some point, he just totally ruled out the possibility that the king had romantic feelings for him.

"I did that because..." as if afraid that Wolfram would run away once he heard what he was about to say, Yuuri gripped both of his wrists. "... because I don't want anyone to come near you. I can't stand even thinking about anyone else laying their eyes on you, spending time with you, getting your attention or even breathe the same air with you."

He spilled everything out in one breath. Wolfram gaped at him.

Without waiting for his reply, Yuuri went on, lest he would lose his courage to confess to Wolfrom or that he might be misunderstood again if he didn't spell it out for him loud and clear, in capital letters, "Wolfram, I am in love with you."

This time, Wolfram was speechless. He didn't even have the strength to deny what Yuuri was telling him. Everything went blank, then choatic in his mind. He didn't know what to do or what to say.

Being with the king all these years, Wolfram knew that he wasn't lying. The glittering in his obsidian eyes was too familiar to recognise. He was utterly serious about what he said and no one could make him flinch.

 _I was so determined to be your friend._

The lost expression on Wolfram's face broke Yuuri's heart. He gave in and pulled his knight into a tight embrace, "I'm sorry, Wolfram. I know I'm an idiot and I'm too slow to realise how I feel about you. I can't stop think about you. Every time I see you I just wish our engagement is not broken off. I love you, so much. How can I be such an idiot? I'm so stupid. I'm such a moron…"

Somehow Yuuri's babbling calmed him. He returned the hug tentatively, listening to the sound of his voice.

"I'm a wimp, a loser, a useless piece of trash…" The rant went on and on. Once Yuuri started his rambling, he seemed to be triggered and was lost in his own world. The knight couldn't help but chuckled. Something just never changed.

Surprised, Yuuri held him a bit closer, "Wolfram?"

"You're the king of this kingdom. You shouldn't insult yourself like that," he said quietly, closed his eyes for a moment, considering how he should put his feelings in words."I'm happy to know what you have told me but I don't think…"

"I understand," Yuuri interrupted him, his heart racing. "I'm not suggesting that we should get married right away or go back to be fiancés." He slightly loosened his hold and looked at the blond in the eye. "We were going too fast at the beginning. We became engaged the first day we met. Though I am glad that we did, I think we should have taken one step at a time."

Wolfram tilted his head to the side, didn't quite get what he meant.

Yuuri smiled at the adorable gesture, raising his hand to gently brush away the locks of hair that fell back into his eyes. "Wolfram, will you go out with me?"

"Go out? To where?"

Actually, Yuuri knew that he wouldn't have understood what he meant but he just felt like asking him in the Earth way.

"Anywhere," he told Wolfram, leaning close, enchanted by his emerald eyes once more. "In Shin Makoku's term, I think that's called courting."

"Courting." Wolfram knew very well what this word implicated but he didn't know how he should respond other than repeating it.

Yuuri nodded, "Though I'm the king, you can totally refuse! I don't want to force you to do anything…"

"I will."

"Eh?" Yuuri managed to stop himself from another round of babbling and stared at Wolfram in big round eyes.

"I will go out with you," Wolfram averted his gaze, blushing. "Anywhere."

"Really?" Yuuri couldn't believe his luck. He pulled Wolfram into another hug and laughed. "I love you, Wolf!"

He didn't remember when he was this happy! He still had the chance of getting Wolfram's love!

Wolfram hid his smile in his shoulder, "Hey Yuuri," Even the sound of his name became different once they finally became more than friends.

"Hn?"

"Happy birthday."

The king had completely forgotten that today was his birthday. He smiled and nuzzled Wolfram's hair, inhaling his favourite scent in the world. "Thanks."

Yuuri wouldn't ever forget his 18th birthday. He got the best present he could never have imagined.

To be continued?


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

Gwendal walked through the corridor in the castle with his usual poker face.

The few maids and soldiers who happened to be there just bowed , stepped aside and made way for him to pass by. They thought that although the stoic man had become less scary recently, the aura he emitted still made him difficult to approach.

The light scowl between his brows just didn't help.

It wasn't Gwendal's intention to make himself so intimidating, but he felt compelled that he had to maintain an authoritative image in front of everyone since there didn't appear to be anyone who was assertive and convincing enough to be the leader figure who made some reasonable final decisions.

The first face that came to his mind was his mother, the former queen, Ceclile von Spitzweg, chirping "free love~".

The second one was the king, Shibuya Yuuri, his baseball boy grin on his face, saying "world peace~".

The third one was Gunter von Christ, nose-bleeding while exclaiming, "Heika~"

Not to mention his two younger brothers, both of them seemed to wear a look which said "I'm okay as long as Yuuri is happy"...

Gwendal could feel the vein on his temple standing out in any second.

Taking deep breaths for a few times, he knocked on the door of the king's office.

He walked in slowly after getting the consent.

* * *

If Yuuri needed to be completely honest, he didn't look forward to the conversation with Gwendal at all. But he had to do it since there would be a big problem if Wolfram's eldest brother didn't support their relationship.

 _Wolfram would want to have his blessing._

He thought as he looked at his ever-grumpy looking adviser who was sitting across his working table in the office. Yuuri hoped to appear as confident as he could.

"Gwendal," he started, straightened up his back. "I'm going to court Wolfram."

The grey-haired man stared at him without saying anything, expressionless.

More than twenty seconds passed.

"Er, you know," Yuuri tried really hard not to blush when he attempted to elaborate his point. Saying it to Wolfram was much easier than admitting it to his eldest brother. "Because I lo-"

"I don't know why you need to tell me this," Gwendal interrupted with his deep deep voice which always reminded Yuuri of the Love Theme of The Godfather.

Yuuri was surprised at this. Shouldn 't he be concerned about his younger brother?

He stayed quiet for a while before answering, "I just want to inform you about it out of respect."

Gwendal grunted, "I don't want to get involved in anything related to romance."

The corner of the young king's lip twisted a little, feeling incredulous. Gwendal almost sounded like a teenager who would "ew" once asked about romantic relationships.

But anyway, at least Gwendal wasn't against him. Knowing him, he would have voiced out his stance if he really disapproved, he wouldn't have cared if it was romance-related.

Yuuri watched him stand up, ready to leave. He stared down at the king and said, "The only thing I want to tell you is," he paused to see if Yuuri was listening, which he was, with all his focus. "Be completely faithful to him."

He slowly walked to the door, putting his hand on the door handle. Before he opened it, he uttered, "If you hurt him, I will kill you, demon king or not."

Then the door was shut.

Yuuri pouted, scowled and grumbled, "Of course I will be faithful to him. It's not like I need _you_ to tell me that."

He leaned back to the chair, staring at the ceiling. Suddenly something popped up in his head. "Oh, damn it! I can't believe I have forgotten…"

* * *

The training was going well. All fire wielders in his team seemed to handle the technique of using an imaginary bow and conjuring fire arrows well.

One of them shot it to the bush at the side. Another soldier put out the burning grass with the water in a metal bucket.

 _Ah, same of them still need to work on their aiming skill, though._

A light breeze was blowing through the training field, bringing Wolfram's sunny blond hair up softly. Although most of them were getting used to how beautiful their captain was, some of the subordinates still couldn't help but admire how his blonde hair gracefully floated in the wind. The black diamond on his ears didn't go unnoticed.

Ignoring their stare, Wolfram glared at them and yelled an order, "Eyes on the field!"

 _That's why I don't want to wear them…_

The memory of the day before was still fresh in his mind, when they were at the field outside the castle.

" _Wolfram, I have brought you something from Earth," he grinned happily, fishing out a little white box from the pocket of his trousers._

" _Hm?What is it?" the blonde examined it curiously when it was placed on his palm._

" _Open it," the expression on Yuuri's face looked as if he was the one getting a gift._

 _Lifting the lid, there sat two black earrings on the small dark blue velvet cushion._

" _These are…"_

" _You have piercings right?" he asked, tucking some golden locks behind Wolfram's ear. "I would be really glad if you wear these every day."_

" _But I can't," Wolfram replied, pushing the box back to him."Black is the colour for the king and the queen only."_

" _Don't be so rigid," Yuuri smiled and enveloped Wolfram's hand with both of his. "They will be covered by your hair most of the time."_

" _I…"_

" _This is my birthday wish," Yuuri said, clasping his hands together in front of his face, making the typical Japanese gesture when asking for a favor. "Please, only you can grant this wish." He had used all his savings which he earned from his part-time jobs to buy this gift. Once he had seen the blonde's piercings, he had decided to buy him earrings as a present. And of course Yuuri knew very well what Wolfram wearing black implied._

 _He just wanted everyone to know that Wolfram belonged to him._

 _Wolfram let out a long sigh. He just couldn't refuse any requests from the king when he began to play the "please card". "Alright then. It's been a long time since I wore earrings." He picked up one of the glittering accessories carefully. "At least help me with putting them on."_

" _Okay okay," Yuuri couldn't stop smiling wide when Wolfram tilted his head to give him a better view of the piercing on his left earlobe. "You need to tell me if it hurts."_

 _The blonde gave him a soft grunt as a reply. When he felt the needle going through, he said, "If anyone, like Günter or Aniue starts nagging me about it, you'll be the one who takes the blame." Wolfram shot him a sidelong glare while seeing Yuuri's too cheerful expression._

" _Okay okay," the king agreed causally, concentrating on his work._

Wolfram doubted if he would remember his promise.

He sighed when he brought his attention back to the soldiers. They were now replacing the targets with the smaller ones. Others were resting under the trees.

The knight's mind then drifted back to all the events that happened last night. In the heat of the moment, he had given Yuuri the permission to court him. And he started to regret it when he woke up this morning. Once his mind was clearer, he began to overthink again. Although he didn't think the king was lying about his feelings, it was still possible that what he was feeling wasn't real. What if he had confused care towards his best friend with love towards a lover? And what happens to his constant claims of 'guys shouldn't be in love'? He did say that often enough a few years ago so everyone in the castle knew that he didn't have any romantic feelings towards Wolfram.

He shook his head and forced himself to stop thinking.

"Let's move on to more difficult tasks," he commanded his men, walking towards the training area and standing on one of the archery spots.

* * *

The sun was setting slowly. The remains of the sunlight brought a soft orange glow to the land.

When Yuuri had found Wolfram, the blonde was staring at the targets which were placed at the far end of the shooting range with a distant look.

"Finish training?"

Snapped back to reality, Wolfram turned and looked at him, "Eh… sorry, what did you just say?"

Yuuri wondered what his knight was thinking. It's rare to see Wolfram distracted enough not to notice his presence.

 _Both of us seem to have a lot on our minds huh?_

He shook his head. Since there were some bows on the ground, Yuuri changed the subject, "Why are there only bows?" he scanned around the field. "Where are the arrows?"

Wolfram picked up a wooden bow and explained, "Our fires are our arrows," he extended his hand and concentrated, a fire arrow appeared on his palm.

"Wow! That's so cool!" Yuuri exclaimed, admiring the beautiful frames. "You shoot it with the bow?"

The blonde shook his head. Instead of answering, he gave the bow to Yuuri, who took it with a curious look. Then, as if the bow was still in Wolfram's hand, the fire arrow stayed in the air where the arrow rest and the string should be. He inhaled, aiming briefly and drew the non-exist string. The fire arrow was propelled straight towards the bull's eye.

The fire disappeared after a few moments.

"That's incredible, Wolfram!" he would have clapped if he wasn't carrying the bow.

Although feeling pleased about the praise, Wolfram tried to appear as indifferent as he could. "It was nothing, really," he said with a faint blush on his cheeks.

While appreciating how cute the expression on his face, Yuuri asked, "Can I do it too?"

Wolfram gave him a strange look, "I don't think water can serve the purpose of attacking," but he recalled the duel they had when they first met. "At least, not when it is shaped as an arrow."

The king pouted. He wanted to do something to impress Wolfram too.

Seeing his disappointed look, Wolfram softened and said, " But it won't hurt to at least try."

He adjusted the bow in Yuuri's hand and instructed, "First, you need to be able to use an imaginary bow."

"Like the air guitar?"

"What's a guitar?"

"Um, nothing. Please go on, Wolf-sensei."

The knight fought back a smile at the nickname,"anyways, try to get familiarized with the real bow. Notice and remember its weight, its shape, its texture ,how it feels to hold it in your hand and even its smell."

Yuuri nodded. He closed his eyes and followed what Wolfram told him, touching the bow slowly, trying to memorize everything about the weapon.

"When you think you can remember the feeling of holding it even when you don't, you can start to summon your arrow."

Yuuri slowly opened his eyes and handed the bow back to Wolfram. Rarely, the ever cheerful-looking demon king was now expressionless. The obsidian eyes looked distant, as if he was deep in thoughts. He turned to the target and took his stance like Wolfram did. The knight noticed that his arrow just appeared in thin air right before he started drawing the air string.

 _It's ice!_

When Wolfram realized what had just happened, it was shot onto the bull's eye and the whole target was smashed into several pieces, failing to take the impact of the king's magic.

The knight couldn't help but gasp.

 _What kind of weapon is that?_

Yuuri blinked a few times before he scratched his head, "Sorry for breaking that…" he said apologetically. " But it did achieve the goal of attacking…right?"

Wolfram stared at him with wide eyes for a few beats then he laughed, "It's just fortunate that you didn't destroy the whole training field!"

Yuuri relaxed when he saw his knight's genuine laughter. The sound was so right that it took his breath away. Talking with Wolfram could always make him forget about things that were bothering him. But he wondered…

...if Wolfram would still be willing to smile at him once he knew what he was going to tell him

Sensing the silence of his companion, Wolfram stared at the king and asked, "What's wrong, Yuuri?"

 _I guess I just can't hide anything from you._

"Wolfram, I need to tell you something."

The look on his face was so , so serious and it worried Wolfram.

 _Is he going to tell me that he has misunderstood his feelings for me afterall?_

The thought made his heart ache.

When he opened his mouth to reply, a few soldiers walked towards them. All of them were holding some archery equipment. They must come here to train.

"Let's go somewhere else,"Yuuri told him, taking his hand as if it was the most natural thing to do.

Wolfram gave him a tentative nod and they began to leave.

He couldn't help but glimpse at their linked hands. Yuuri's hand was so warm.

So warm that he was afraid that he wouldn't want to let go even when he had to.

To be continued

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